DUKE 
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LIBRARY 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH 


w 


OF 


N WW  TOPE 


^jsar  l*?       -  .:•■  v>v 


In  Orange  Bounty,  J^f.  G. 


(KEVISED  EDITION.) 


By  Rev.  D.  I.  GRASC, 

RE6DSVSLLE,    N.    C. 


1891. 


Div.S 

/  -  . 


INTBODU  CTION. 


It  has  long  been  a  source  of  great  grief  to  me  that  the 
early  history  of  New  Hope  church  should  be  so  imperfectly 
known,  and  permitted  to  remain  in  comparative  obscurity 
with  the  prospect  of  passing  away  into  oblivion.  If  the  his- 
tory of  a  church  or  a  community  is  lost  or  unknown  we 
fail  to  see  the  oft-repeated  fulfilment  of  the  promises  of  God 
to  His  people.  Generation  after  generation  come  and  go 
and  leave  behind  them  a  history,  and  if  this  be  lost  or 
unknown  their  children  may  be  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  they 
are  enjoying  blessings  and  privileges  which  are  but  the  ful- 
filment of  an  unchanging  promise  to  their  God-fearing  ances- 
tors. We  easily  lose  the  line  of  our  ancestry,  and  conse- 
quently we  lose  their  history,  which,  if  known,  might  teach 
us  the  great  lesson  that  "  God  is  not  slack  concerning  His 
promise,  as  some  men  count  slackness."  How  can  we  know 
the  fulfilment  of  the  promise,  "  I  will  be  a  God  unto  thee  and 
to  thy  seed  after  thee,"  unless  we  know  our  ancestry? 

New  Hope  church,  the  cradle  of  my  infancy  and  the 
church  of  my  fathers,  has  a  history;  and  while  much  of  it  is 
involved  in  doubt  and  uncertainty,  yet  much  of  it  may  be 
known  and  should  not  be  lost  or  forgotten.  Therefore  in  my 
leisure  hours  I  have  felt  it  incumbent  on  me  to  collect 
together  certain  facts  and  dates  and  put  them  into  such  shape 
that  they  might  be  preserved  for  future  generations.  From 
my  childhood  I  have  loved  the  dear  old  New  Hope  church 
and,  having  always  had  a  desire  to  know  her  early  history,  I 
have  gathered  together  much  data  in  this  pamphlet  which  I 
am  confident  is  not  generally    known.     If  I  have   made   mis- 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

takes  it  has  been  done  through  ignorance,  and  I  hope  by  the 
help  of  others  at  some  future  day  to  correct  them.  I  know 
the  work  i.s  imperfectly  done,  but  I  have  the  consolation  of 
knowing,  also,  that  something,  at  least,  has  been  preserved, 
which  otherwise  might  have  been  lost  forever.  And  humbly 
hoping  that  it  may  do  some  good  among  my  kindred  and 
friends  by  way  of  strengthening  their  faith  in  the  promises 
of  God  and  leading  them  to  the  Saviour,  I  commit  these  pages 
to  my  brethren  in  the  Lord  of  New  Hope  congregation. 

D.  IRVIN  CRAIG. 
Reidsville,  N.  C,  May  22,  1886. 


REVISED    EDITION 


Since  writing  the  first  edition  of  this  sketch,  I  have  re- 
ceived numbers  of  letters  from  various  persons,  especially  in 
the  western  states  desiring  copies  of  this  little  book.  I  could 
not  supply  them,  as  it  was  out  of  print  and  the  limited  number 
of  copies  long  since  exhausted. 

In  the  meantime  certain  facts  and  data  have  come  into 
my  possession  which  will  he  interesting  to  the  reader  and  are 
a  valuable  addition  to  the  sketch.  I  am  largely  indebted  to 
Mr.  John  A.  Freeland,  of  Illinois,  for  much  of  the  informa- 
tion. 

I  have  endeavored  to  correct  former  mistakes  and  errors, 
and  I  hope  the  little  book  will  find  favor  with  all  who  are 
interested  in  it,  and  prove  a  blessing  to  the  church. 

D.  I.  CRAIG. 

Reidsville,  N.  C,  January  14,  189], 


History  of  New  Hope  Ghursh, 


EARLY    HISTOKY. 


About  two  hundred  years  ago  the  middle  section  of 
North  Carolina  was  one  wild  and  extensive  wilderness,  inhab- 
ited by  savages  and  the  wild  beasts  and  birds  of  the  forest. 
It  was  about  the  year  1685  that  Spotwood  describes  the  en- 
tire State  as  being  without  any  form  of  government.  The  few 
settlers,  chiefly  in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  State,  "did  what 
was  right  in  their  own  eyes,  paying  tribute  neither  to  God  nor 
Osesar."  Mr.  Banceoft,  says:  "There  was  no  fixed  minister 
in  the  land  till  1703;  no  church  erected  till  1705;  no  separate 
building  for  a  court  house  till  1722;  no  printing  press  till  1754. 
Careless  of  religious  sects,  or  colleges  or  lawyers  or  absolute 
laws,  the  early  settlers  enjoyed  liberty  of  conscience  and  per- 
sonal independance,  freedom  of  the  forest  and  river.  The 
children  of  nature  listened  to  the  inspirations  of  nature.  * 
*  *  For  then  the  wild  bee  stored  its  honey  in  hollow 
trees;  for  them  unnumbered  swine  fattened  on  the  fruits  of 
the  forest  or  the  heaps  of  peaches;  for  them  in  spite  of  their 
careless  lives  and  imperfect  husbandry,  cattle  multiplied  on 
the  pleasant  savannahs,  and  they  desired  no  greater  happiness 
than  they  enjoyed.         *  *  They  were  the  freest 

of  free;  men  to  whom  the  restraints  of  other  colonies  were 
too  severe;  they  were  not  so  much  caged  in  the  woods  as  scat- 
tered in  lonely  granges.  There  was  neither  city  nor  township 
there  was  hardly  even  hamlet  or  one  house  within  sight  of 


6  HISTORY   OF   NEW   HOPE   CHURCH. 

another;  nor  were  there  roads,  except  as  the  paths  from  house 
to  house  were  distinguished  by  notches  in  the  trees.  But  the 
settlers  were  gentle  in  their  manners,  of  serene  minds,  and 
enemies  to  violence  and  bloodshed.  Not  all  the  successive 
revolutions  had  kindled  vindictive  passions;  freedom  —  entire 
freedom  —  was  enjoyed  without  anxiety  as  without  guarantees 
the  charities  of  life  were  scattered  at  their  feet  like  the  flow- 
ers in  their  meadows,  and  the  spirit  of  humanity  maintained 
its  influence  in  the  Arcadia,  as  royalist  writers  will  have  it, 
of  'rogues  and  rebels'  in  the  paradise  of  the  Quakers." 

In  my  early  days  I  have  heard  from  the  lips  of  some  of 
the  oldest  inhabitants,  stories  told  them  by  their  fathers 
which  well  agree  with  these  statements.  1  have  heard  of  the 
wild  swine  growing  fat  on  fruits  and  of  the  roads  which  were 
but  Indian  paths.  I  have  been  told  that  the  road  between 
the  New  Hope  and  Hawfields  settlements  was  distinguished 
by  notches  in  the  trees.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that 
when  Mr.  Bancroft  speaks  of  the  first  minister  and  the  first 
church  in  North  Carolina,  he  means  the  established  church 
of  England  which  was  imposed  by  law.  Whether  there  were 
not  even  in  1703,  many  rude  buildings  scattered  through  the 
country  called  "  meeting  houses,"  after  the  Quaker  style, 
where  the  people  met  not  only  to  worship  God  but  for  various 
other  purposes,  is  a  question,  for  the  population  increased 
very  rapidly  toward  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century.  But 
at  this  very  time  and  long  before,  Scotland  was  the  scene  of 
endless  commotions,  oppressions,  tyranny  and  bloodshed, 
arisiu»  from  continued  attempts  to  suppress  conscientious 
convictions  of  truth  and  liberty,  and  many  of  the  Scotch,  who 
were  almost  exclusively  Presbyterians,  first  fled  to  Holland 
and  thence  to  Ireland,  where  they  remained  a  number  of 
y^ars,  when,  by  fresh  oppressions  they  were  driven  to  seek 
religious  liberty  in  another  clime;  and,  coming  directly  from 
Ireland  to  this  country,  they  were  called  "Scotch-Irish." 
This  was  the  original  stock  of  the  New  Hope  congregation. 
They  were  of  the  most  fearless  character,  and    accustomed  to 


THE    HAWFIELDS    SETTLEMENT. 


the  severest  hardships.  They  were  unpretentious  in  their 
manners  and  customs,  and  most  unlearned,  but  as  unbending 
as  iron  pillars  in  their  religious  sentiments. 


THE    HAWFIELDS    SETTLEMENT. 


It  was  late  in  the  seventeenth  century  or  very  early  in 
the  eighteenth  when  the  father  of  Gilbert  Strayhorn — a 
Scotchman — immigrated  to  America  and  settled  in  Dauphin 
County,  Pennsylvania,  about  12  miles  east  of  Harrisburg.  We 
know  but  little  of  this  original  family,  the  original  name  of 
which  was  "Streaughan"  or  "Streaghan."  This  was  the  Scotch 
spelling,  but  in  the  old  deeds  of  this  country,  some  of  which 
are  in  my  possession,  the  name  was  spelled  "Stream"  The 
name  was  also  known  and  spelled,  as  will  be  seen  hereafter, 
as  "Strain." 

I  have  learned  through  Mr.  John  A.  Freeland,  of  Illinois, 
that  in  this  family  there  was  a  brother  older  than  Gilbert, 
whose  name  was  David,  and  I  will  add  that  it  is  probable 
there  was  a  third  son,  much  younger  than  Gilbert,  whose  name 
was  John.  If  this  be  true,  there  is  ground  for  believing  that 
the  name  of  the  old  Scotchman  himself,  the  father  of  the  boys, 
was  Gilbert. 

Gilbert  his  son,  the  patriarch,  and  the  pioneer  and  father 
of  the  name  "  Strayhorn,"  was  born  at  the  aforesaid  place  in 
Pennsylvania  in  the  year  1715  and  was  the  father  of  all  the 
Strayhorns  in  N.  C.  and  many  more  who  bear  the  same 
name  in  the  western  States.  This  man  was  one  of  the  original 
founders  of  New  Hope  church,  and  it  is  not  at  all  improbable 
that  he  was  one  of  the  original  founders  of  Hawfields 
church  at  an  earlier  date.  It  was  about  twenty  or  twenty-five 
years  after  his  birth  in  Pennsylvania  that  a  number  of  fam- 
ilies, all  of  the  Scotch-Irish  stock,  and  bound  together  by  the 
ties  of  relationship  and  one  common  heartfelt  desire  for  relig- 


8  HISTORY    OF   NEW   HOPE   CHURCH. 

ious  freedom,  left  the  old  world  in  search  of  a  new  home. 
Among  these  families  were  the  Craigs,  the  Blackwoods,  the 
Kirklands,  the  Freelands  and  perhaps  the  Mebanes,  the  Tates, 
the  Harts,  the  Nelsons,  the  Mitchells,  the  Johnstons,  etc.  I  am 
almost  certain  the  Craigs,  Blackwoods  and  Kirklands  and  per- 
haps the  Freelands,  came  across  the  Atlantic  in  the  same  ves- 
sel, for  they  seem  to  have  been  connected  by  relationship  in 
the  old  country,  and  did  not  separate  after  landing  in  Amer- 
ica until  they  were  settled.  Where  they  landed,  I  have  no 
means  of  knowing  but  it  is  certain  they  located  for  a  time  in 
Pennsylvania.  And  precisely  when  they  landed  is  a  question 
over  which  I  have  labored  hai'd  and  long,  but  have  failed  to  find 
an  answer  which  is  perfectly  satisfactory.  But  by  comparing 
the  dates  of  old  deeds  in  my  possession,  together  with  certain 
family  traditions  and  relics,  I  do  not  think  I  am  far  wrong  — 
indeed,  I  think  I  am  correct  —  when  I  say  it  was  in  the  year 
1741.  From  certain  facts  and  dates  in  my  possession,  I  am 
confident  that  it  was  not  later  than  1741  and  not  earlier  than 
1736  when  these  families  landed  on  American  soil.  How  long 
they  remained  in  Pennsylvania  I  do  not  know,  but  it  was  not 
a  great  while,  perhaps  only  a  few  months,  or  not  more  than 
two  years.  Pennsylvania  at  this  time  was  sorely  tried  by  the 
French  and  Indian  wars,  and  it  was  chiefly  on  account  of  hos- 
tile Indians  that  they  fled  to  North  Carolina.  It  was  in  mid 
winter  and  as  they  passed  through  Virginia  some  of  the 
rivers  were  so  completely  frozen  up  that  they  drove  their 
teams  over  them  on  the  solid  ice.  They  refused  to  stop  in 
Virginia,  chiefly  because  the  established  church  was  there  in 
full  force.  They  finally  reached  North  Carolina  where  they 
settled  in  the  Hawfields  and  remained  several  years  —  until 
about  1750  or  a  little  later.  Whether  Gilbert  Strayhorn  came 
to  the  Hawfields  settlement  from  Pennsylvania  in  company 
with  William  Craige,  William  Blackwood,  Mr.  Kirkland  and 
others,  I  do  not  know;  but  if  he  did  not  come  with  them  it  was 
not  far  from  the  same  time  —  perhaps  a  little  earlier.  I  have 
been  informed  by  an  uncle  of  mine,  W.   F.    Strayhorn,  who 


THE   HAWFIELDS   SETTLEMENT.  9 

was  a  great-grandson  of  Gilbert,  that  he  came  to  the  Hawfields 
in  the  year  1740,  and  if  this  be  true  he  was  then  twenty-five 
years  old.  He  was  a  tailor  by  trade  and  after  having  lived  in 
the  settlement  a  short  time,  he  returned  to  Pennsylvania  and 
was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Margaret  Roan  whose 
mother  was  the  widow  Hunter.  He  immediately  returned  to  the 
Hawfields  and  settled  on  the  place  where  Calvin  Tate  now 
lives,  about  one  mile  south  of  Mebaneville.  He  lived  at  this 
place  two  years,  during  which  time  his  eldest  son,  John,  was 
born,  ( 1742 )  and  then  he  removed  into  the  bounds  of  New 
Hope.  It  was  no^jfuntil  the  year  1754-5,  however,  that  he  got 
the  deeds  for  his  lands.  It  was  about  this  time  that  he 
changed  his  name  from  "Strean"or"Streaughn"  to  "Strayhorn" 
and  when  asked  the  reason  for  the  change  he  replied  "I  have 
simply  put  a  'horn'  to  it  to  make  it  sound."  I  heard  of  one 
or  two  other  explanations  of  the  change,  but  1  am  sure  the 
above  was  his  explanation  and  always  told  in  a  jocular  way. 
It  may  be  well  to  state  just  here  an  explanation  of  what  has 
long  been  a  mystery  to  me.  I  have  always  been  told  that  the 
Stray  horns  and  Strains  were  one  family  but  I  could  never  un- 
derstand the  connection.  Mr.  John  A.  Freeland  of  Illinois 
who  is  a  grandson,  on  his  mother's  side,  of  Alexander  Strain 
and  who  has  a  remarkable  memory  and  states  facts  very  con- 
cisely as  told  him  by  his  ancestors,  has  made  the  matter  very 
plain  to  me. 

It  seems  that  Gilbert  Strayhorn's  elder  brother  in  Penn- 
sylvania, whose  name  was  David,  had  three  sons.  These  sons 
came  to  N.  C.  in  search  of  their  uncle  Gilbert,  and  after  find- 
ing him  in  the  neighborhood  of  New  Hope,  and  they  were  no 
other  than  Alexander,  John  and  James  Strain.  They  found 
that  their  uncle  had  changed  his  name  and  not  willing  to 
adopt  it,  they  retained  their  name  of  "Strain,"  or  at  any  rate 
they  were  known  by  that  name.  It  is  now  evident  that  Alex- 
ander and  John  Strain,  whose  names  are  recorded  as  elders 
of  New  Hope  church  before  the  year  1820,  were  nephews  of 
Gilbert  Strayhorn.     John  was  also  his  son-in-law,  having  mar- 


10  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HOPE    CHURCH. 

ried  his  daughter  Miriam.  Mr.  Freeland  says  the  wife  of 
Alexander,  his  grandmother,  was  a  daughter  of  James  Hun- 
ter, whose  house  was  burned  and  himself  outlawed  by  Gov. 
Lyons  of  revlutionary  fame.  The  Hunter  family  fled  and 
took  refuge  in  the  house  of  Gilbert  Strayhorn,  and  it  was 
there  that  Alexander  Strain  met  and  married  his  daughter. 
It  is  probable  that  James  Hunter  was  a  half  brother  of  Gil- 
bert Stray  horn's  wife. 

Wm.  Craige  settled  on  what  is  known  as  "the  old  Strud- 
wick  place"  in  the  Hawfields  where  Addison  Wilson  now  lives. 
I  do  not  know  where  William  Blackwood  or  Joseph  Kirkland 
and  others  located  before  coming  to  New  Hope.  It  was  about 
this  time — not  far  from  1750 — when  it  was  rumored  in  the 
Hawfields  settlement  that  the  title  grants  which  they  had 
obtained  for  their  lands  through  the  agents  of  Earl  Granville 
were  not  genuine.  And  as  this  impression  grew  upon  the 
minds  of  the  people,  family  after  family  left  their  premises 
and  moved  to  other  localities.  This  was  the  case  with  Wil- 
liam Craige,  Gilbert  Strayhorn  and  others,  who  came  to  the 
waters  of  New  Hope.  It  appears  that  while  the  Hawfields 
settlement  was  being  filled  up,  the  Earl  Granville  became 
deeply  involved  in  debt — by  gambling,  as  the  traditional  story 
goes —  to  one  Lord  Barrington,  of  London,  and  that  he  trans- 
ferred to  him  for  the  debt  a  large  scope  of  land  on  the  Cape 
Fear  river,  and  also  the  Hawfields  settlements  in  North  Caro- 
lina. And  a  short  time  afterwards,  Lord  Barrington  being- 
involved  with  Mr.  Samuel  Strudwick,  of  London,  in  like  man- 
ner transferred  the  property  to  him.  In  after  years  one  of  the 
descendants  of  Mr.  Strudwick  came  to  North  Carolina  and 
settled  where  William  Craige  first  lived.  Many  of  the  settlers 
did  not  and  would  not  leave  taeir  premises,  and  this  whole 
affair  was  a  matter  of  litigation  in  the  courts  for  many  years 
afterwards.  Perhaps  William  Craige  and  some  others  came  to 
New  Hope  some  two  or  three  years  before  Gilbert  Strayhorn, 
but  all  these  families  were  undoubtedly  connected  with  the 
first  church  built  in  the  Hawfields.     It  is  well  known  that  the 


THE    HAWFIELDS    SETTLEMENT.  11 

Rev.  Hugh  McAden  was  the  first  permanent   Presbyterian 
minister   in   this   section,   though   missionary    supplies    had 
been  sent  to  North  Carolina  before  him,  and  it  is  highly  prob- 
able that  some  of  these   had  visited  the  Hawfields.     In  Mr. 
McAden's  journal   appears  the   following   note :"  On  Friday 
evening  I  rode  to  the  Hawfields,  where  1  preached  the  fourth 
Sabbath  in  August  —  August  24,1755, —  to   a   considerable 
population,  chiefly  Presbyterian,  who  seemed  highly   pleased 
and  very  desirous  to  hear  the  Word  preached  again  on  Tues- 
day; the  people  came  out  to  hear  quite   beyond   expectation." 
From  this  it  appears  evident  to  me  that  there  was  a  house  for 
public    worship   and    perhaps   had  been   for   several   years. 
Besides,  he  had  come  to  the  Hawfields    from  Eno,  where    he 
had  preached  August  10,  1755,  and  there  seems  to  have  been 
a  house  of  worship    there   also.     But   my  understanding   as 
gathered  from  my  ancestors  has  always  been  that    Hawfields 
church  was  several  years  older  than  Eno.     Therefore  the  first 
settlers  of  New  Hope  evidently  left  a  church  in  the  Hawfields 
when  they  removed,  and  it  is  well  known  that  for   a    number 
of  years  afterwards  they  regularly  attended  service  there  —  a 
distance  of  at  least   twenty   miles  —  while   Eno    would    have 
been  much  nearer.     They   clung  to  the   old  mother   church, 
and  long  after  a  house  of   worship   had    been   built   at   New 
Hope  they  still  adhered  to  the  Hawfields;  and  this    accounts 
for  the  fact  that  New  Hope  church  does  not  appear  as  a  reg- 
ular organized  church  until  a  number  of  years  after  its  exist- 
ence.    Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  New  Hope  church   not   only 
sprang  from  the  original  church  of  the    Hawfields   but  was  a 
part  of  it,  and  the  history  of  the  one  involves   the    history    of 
the  other.     The  early  settlers  of  New  Hope,  consisting  of  the 
Craigs,  Blackwoods,  Kirklands,  Freelands,  Stray  horns,  Harts, 
etc.,  were  not  only  closely  connected   among    themselves,  but 
had  intermarried  with  the   Nelsons,  the   Tates,  the   Tinnins, 
the  Mitchells,  the  Johnstons,  etc.,  of  the  Hawfields,  thus  ren- 
dering the  bond  of  union  and  sympathy  between  the  two  set- 
tlements the  more  close  and  lasting. 


12  HISTORY   OF  NW  HOE-E'  CHURCH.. 


*  THE  NAME  "NEW  HOPE," 


As  has  been  stated,  sometime  not  far  from  the  year  1750 
William  Craige  and  others,  together  with  their  sons,  some  of 
whom  were  now  married,  determined  to  leave  the  Hawfields, 
They  came  into  the  neighborhood  o?  New  Hope,  where  they 
saw  rich  bottoms,  numerous  creeks  and  springs,  spacious  mead- 
ow lands  and  fine  forest  trees.  They  had  an  eye  for  the  best 
lands,  and  here — -after  weary  wanderings,  untold  hardships, 
and  anxieties  of  body  and  mind  —  they  were  inspired  with 
"  new  hopes,'*  and  at  once  determined  upon  their  permanent 
home.  They  looked  upon  the  prospect  and  called  it  a  "  New 
Hope."  This  is  the  explanation  th  it  has  been  handed  down 
to  me  through  generations,  of  the  origin  of  the  name  of  the 
stream  which  is  called  "New  Hope"  unto  this  day.  But 
whether  this  or  some  similar  circumstance  lower  down 
and  at  an  earlier  date,  or  whether  it  originated  with  the 
Indians,  I  do  not  certainly  know.  But  it  is  of  some  impor- 
tance to  know  the  origin  of  the  name  of  the  stream,  for  what- 
ever it  may  have  been  was  likewise  the  origin  of  the  name  of 
the  church.  But  this  is  the  only  explanation  I  have  ever 
heard  given,  and  it  is  perhaps  the  correct  one. 

The  church  is  situated  on  the  north  side  and  about  one  mile 
from  this  stream,  which  takes  its  rise  several  miles  west  of 
the  church.  It  flows  in  a  south-easterly  direction  into  the 
Cape  Fear,  and  thence  into  the  Atlantic  ocean.  For  more 
than  a  century  it  was  famous  for  its  abundant  production  of 
fish,  and  at  the  present  time  few  streams  of  like  size  yield  a 
better  supply  or  quality. 

*  Dr.  Joseph  Caldwell,  in  a  speech,  delivered  in  Hillsboro  in  1833,  says  that  an 
early  Company  of  Colonists  from  the  Roanoke  went  out  to  make  discoveries  and 
found  this  stream  and  out  of  the  joy  and  thankfulness  of  their  hearts,  exclaimed 
"New  Hope."    But  this  is  traditional  as  well  as  the  above. 


■SOME    OP    THE   FIRST    TETTLEHS. 

SOME  OF  THE  FIRST  SETTLERS, 

NAMES   AND   PLACES. 


Perhaps  some  of  the  readers  of  this  sketch  are  not  aware 
that  "  the  province  of  Carolina,  embracing  what  is  now  North 
and  South  Carolina,  and  extending  westward  to  the  Pacific 
ocean,  was  granted  by  King  Charles  II.  to  eight  lords  pro- 
prietors; that  these  surrendered  their  right  to  the  crown  in 
1729  —  one  of  them,  Lord  Carteret,  afterwards  Earl  Gran- 
ville, retaining  his  undivided  interest  in  the  soil, — -and  at  the 
same  time  two  distinct  provincial  governments  were  estab- 
lished in  North  and  South  Carolina,  and  that  in  the  year  1743 
Earl  Granville's  interest  was  laid  off  in  severalty,  and  em- 
braced the  northern  side  of  North  Carolina  and  as  far  south 
as  the  Montgomery  line,  or  near  to  it,  and  thus  included  the 
lands  in  Orange  county.  And  though  this  proprietor  retained 
no  political  power,  his  rights  in  the  soil  involved  land  offices 
and  agencies,  forming  a  sort  of  government  within  a  govern- 
oient,  and  involving  complications  and  burdens  which  added 
to  those  grievances  which  helped  to  prepare  the  way  for  the 
Revolution."  This  was  the  condition  of  things  in  l750-,54, 
when  the  lands  around  New  Hope  church  were  purchased 
directly  from  Earl  Granville.  They  were  bought  at  fair  pur- 
chases, and  not  a  title  was  stained  by  fraud  or  violence  to  the 
original  owners.  The  oldest  purchase  in  the  vicinity  of  New 
Hope  church  was  made  by  William  Craige. 

William  Craige,  as  before  stated,  was  a  Scotch-Irishman5 
and  born  in  the  seventeenth  century.  He  spelled  his  name 
with  a  final  "  p,"  which  most  of  his  descendants  have  dropped. 
He  was  married  in  the  old  country  to  Mrs.  Margaret  Long, 
the  widow  of  George  Long.  Her  maiden  name  was  Margaret 
Logan.  She  had  one  child  by  Mr.  Long  —  a  son,  —  whose 
name  was  George,  who  came  with  them  to  America,  and  who 
shared  equally  with  the  Craig  children.  In  after  years  a  son 
of  this  boy,  whose   name   was   also   George,  married   Isabel 


14  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HOPE    CHURCH. 

Craig,  a  daughter  of  John  Craig,  the  eldest  son  of  William. 
Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  this  George  Long  and  his  wife,  Isa- 
bel Craig,  were  the  children  of  half  brothers.  This  was  the 
origin  of  the  present  Long  family  in  the  New  Hope  congre- 
gation, which  has  furnished  the  church  with  one  ruling  elder, 
George  R.,  and  two  deacons,  John  J.  and  James  D., — -all 
brothers.  By  this  mother  of  the  Longs,  William  Craige  had 
five  children,  and  at  least  two  of  them  were  born  in  Ireland, 
and  perhaps  four  of  them;  for  John,  the  eldest  son,  was  a  lad 
of  some  twelve  or  fourteen  years  old  when  they  came  across 
the  ocean,  while  James  was  a  little  child  in  his  crib  not  more 
than  two  years  old.  The  names  of  the  other  three  children 
were  David,  Samuel  and  Isabel.  Samuel  was  the  youngest 
child,  and  perhaps  the  only  one  born  in  this  country.  Some 
of  these  children  were  married  about  the  time  they  came  to 
New  Hope.  This  was  the  original  family  of  William  Craige, 
who  settled,  lived  and  died  about  two  or  three  miles  west  of 
the  church,  on  the  south  bank  of  New  Hope  stream,  on  the 
lands  now  owned  by  Pendleton  Cole,  not  far  from  a  spring 
nearly  opposite  the  mouth  of  Richland  Fork  creek.  He  "  en- 
tered "and  owned,  together  with  his  four  sons,  under  the 
proprietorship  of  Lord  Granville,  all  the  lands  on  both  sides 
of  New  Hope  stream,  several  miles  in  width  and  extending 
up  and  down  the  stream,  from  the  lands  formerly  owned  by 
Baxter  Davis  to  the  present  possessions  of  William  Robson, 
on  the  road  leading  from  Hillsboro'  to  Chapel  Hill,  embrac- 
ing a  large  area  of  country  south  and  west  from  the  church. 
The  date  of  his  death  is  unknown,  but  he  lived  to  be  a  very 
old  man,  and  his  body  lies  buried,  together  with  the  body  of 
his  wife,  in  the  old  Hawfields  burying  ground.  This  sacred 
spot  of  earth,  where  scores  of  the  old  settlers  lie  buried,  has 
recently  been  plowed  up  and  cultivated  in  corn,  and  the  stones 
which  marked  many  a  grave  have  been  rudely  torn  down  and 
scattered  over  the  fields.  The  perpetrator  of  this  deed  was 
Addison  Wilson,  who  has  recently  been  indicted  in  the  courts, 
and  it  is  to  be  hoped  will  receive  just  punishment  for  such  an 
outrage  against  humanity. 


'THE   FIRST    SETTLERS.  —  NAMES   AND   PLACES.  15 

Thei  e  are  now  no  visible  signs  to  mark  the  spot  where  the 
old  house  of  William  Craige  stood. 

John  Craig,  the  eldest  son,  married  Mary  Blackwood,  the 
•daughter  of  William  Blackwood,  and  settled  *  the  Isaac  Craig 
place,1'  afterwards  owned  by  J.  N.  Craig,  and  now  the  prop- 
erty of  J.  W.  Cole.  This  place  was  settled  about  the  same 
time,  or  soon  after  the  settlement  of  the  old  homestead.  And 
this  son,  John,  who  was  a  few  years  younger  than  Gilbert 
Strayhorn,  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  New  Hope  church. 

David,  who  was  perhaps  the  second  son,  married  Nellie 
Turner,  of  the  Hawfields,  and  settled  what  is  known  as  "the 
Currie  place,"  which  was  afterwards  owned  by  J.  N.  Craig 
and  others,  and  now  the  property  of  J.  W.  Cole.  The  site  of 
the  old  settlement  was  near  New  Hope  stream,  on  the  north 
bank,  and  not  far  to  the  east  of  the  public  road. 

James  married  Rebecca  Ball,  whose  mother  was  a  Miss 
Wilson,  known  as  "  Grandmother  Ball."  This  old  lady  lived 
with  James  Craig  until  she  died  at  an  advanced  age.  She 
was  an  Irishwoman,  and  came  from  Pennsylvania  with  the 
Craigs.  I  have  often  heard  of  her  remarkable  small  head, 
and  have  seen  a  cap  she  wore  which  was  not  too  large  for  an 
ordinary  baby.  She  had  an  ungovernable  temper,  and  was 
wholly  different  from  her  daughter,  Rebecca,  who  was  noted 
for  her  deep  piety  and  godly  life.  The  settlement  of  James  Craig, 
which  was  about  a  mile  to  the  northeast  from  the  old  homestead, 
was  known  as  "Richland  Fork,1'  and  thefiist  house  stood  just 
west  of  the  fork,  near  the  confluence  of  the  two  creeks,  and  in 
my  boyhood  was  called  "the  old  orchard."  The  last  of  the 
old  apple  trees  have  disappeared  within  my  memory.  The 
second  house  stood  within  the  fork,  and  the  walls  of  the  third 
house,  in  which  James  Craig  died,  are  still  standing.  This  is 
the  place  where  my  grandfather,  David  Wilson  Craig,  was 
born,  lived  and  died.  And  according  to  the  old  deeds  this 
place  was  laid  off  and  surveyed  Dec.  4,  1754,  "adjoining  Wil- 
liam Craig's  own  line,"  showing  that  he  had  made  entries 
prior  to  this  date.  It  was  deeded  Sept.  13,  1755,  and  prDved 
in  open  court  the  same  month.  It  was  sold  by  William  Craige 
to  John  Reaney  June   8,  1756,   and  bought  back   from   Mr. 


16  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HOPE    CHURCH. 

Beaney  by  James  Craig,  the  son  of  William,  in  June,  1758. 
It  has  been  in  the  possession  of  the  family  from  that  day  to 
this.  • 

Samuel,  married  Mary  Johnston  of  the  Hawfields,  and 
settled  on  the  old  homestead  at  the  place  where  Pendleton 
Cole  lived  and  died. 

Isabel,  the  only  daughter  of  William  Craige,  married  Da- 
vid Nelson,  and  removed  to  the  Hawfields,  where  many  of 
her  decendants  are  still  to  be  found.  These  were  the  early 
Craig  Settlers  and  their  places  of  residence. 

The  aforesaid  sons  of  William  Craige  died,  as  follows: 

David,  November  2,  1785. 

Samuel,  September  21,  1790. 

John,  February  6,  1816. 

James,  July  21,  1821. 

Gilbert  Strayhorn,  as  already  stated,  was  a  few  years 
older  than  John  Craig,  the  eldest  son  of  William.  And 
while  the  Craig's  located  about  two  or  three  miles  to  the 
south-west  from  the  church  on  the  waters  of  New  Hope,  this 
man  settled  about  two  or  three  miles  to  the  north-east  from 
the  church  on  the  waters  of  the  Eqo.  The  church  was  about 
midway  between  the  two  original  settlements,  and  their  lands 
joined  not  far  from  it.  Gilbert  Stray  horn's  old  homestead  is 
now  owned  by  his  direct  decendant,  William  G.  Strayhorn, 
who  is  in  the  fifth  generation  in  direct  line,  both  from  his 
father  and  his  mother.  This  is  a  singular  fact,  for  William 
Strayhorn's  grandfather  on  his  father's  side  and  his  grand- 
mother on  his  mother's  side  wrere  both  the  grandchildren  of 
Gilbert  Strayhorn.  The  site  of  the  old  place  is  on  the  south 
side  of  the  public  road  leading  from  Hillsboro  to  Durham, 
and  just  opposite  the  present  settlement.  It  appears  from  an 
old  deed  that  this  place  was  a  part  of  six  hundred  acres  gran- 
ted by  Earl  Granville  to  John  Wood  in  the  year  1754,  and 
bought  by  Gilbert  Strayhorn  in  the  following  year  1755. 
Other  deeds  show  that  Gilbert  Strayhorn  afterwards  entered 
and  bought  lands  until  he  owned,  together  with  his  sons,  a 
large  area  of  country,  which  was  for  many  years  called  "the 
Strayhorn  neighborhood."     As  above  stated,  these  lands  join- 


THE    FIRST    SETTLERS. NAMES    AYV    PLACES.  17 

ed  the  lands  of  the  Craigs  on  the  waters  of  New  Hope,  and  the 
church  was  situated  on  the  border  of  the  possession  next 
to  the  Craigs.  He  lived  to  be  eighty-eight  years  old,  and 
his  body  lies  buried  in  the  old  New  Hope  Graveyard.  He 
and  John  Craig  were  the  first  elders  and  original  founders 
of  the  church.  He  had  eight  children  —  four  sons  and  four 
daughters.  His  sons  were  John,  William,  James  and  Da- 
vid; his  daughters  were  Nancy,  Miriam,  Sarah  and  Mary. 

John,  the  eldest  child,  married  Elizabeth  Johnston,  of 
the  Hawfields,  and  settled  the  place  where  Robert  Shields 
now  lives. 

William  married  Mary  Tate,  of  the  Hawfields,  and  after- 
wards Mary  Hunter,  and  settled  the  place  where  David 
Strayhorn  recently  lived  and  died. 

James  married  Bachael  Cabe,  and  settled  the  place  where 
John  T.  Hogan  now  lives. 

David  married Cabe,  and  afterwards   Penny    Berry, 

and  lived  at  the  old  homestead. 

Nancy  married  James  Hart,  and  lived  near  a  spring  just 
north  of '■  the  Bryant  Strayhorn  place,"  and  afterwards  at 
the  place  where  Alexander  Dickson  lived  and  died. 

Miriam  married  John  Strain,  and  lived  on  the  road  a  few 
miles  north  of  Chapel  Hill. 

Sarah  married  William  Ansley,  and  moved  to  Georgia. 
Mary  married  John    Cabe,  who   settled   the    place    where 
William  T.  Shields  lived  and  died. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  New  Hope  church  was  sur- 
rounded for  miles  in  extent  and  in  every  direction  by  the 
possessions  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  William  Craige 
and  Gilbert  Strayhorn. 

William  Blackwood,  one  of  the  first  settlers,  located  to 
the  south- west  of  the  Craigs,  and  owned  large  bodies  of  land 
known  to  this  day  as  "  the  big  meadows."  And  to  the  east  of 
these  lands  is  quite  an  elevation,  which  has  always  been 
known  as  "the  Blackwood  mountain."  It  is  my  impression, 
without  knowing  just  how  I  got  it,  that  William  Blackwood's 
wife,  Betsy,  whom  he  married  in  Ireland,  was  a  sister  of 
William  Craige.     But  whether  this  be  true  or  not,  they  were 


18"  HISTORY  OF   NEW   HOPE  CHTIRCHT. 

among  the  original  settlers,  and  were  both  members  of  Haw- 
fields  church  before  coming  to  New  Hope.  Their  children! 
were  James,  John,  William,  Martha,  Mary,  Peggy,  Annie  and 
Jennie. 

James  married,  and  located  some  miles  below  Chapel  Hill. 

AVilliam  married  Margaret  King,  and  settled  on  the  old 
homestead,  and  John  moved  away. 

Martha  married  Charles  Johnston,  and  Mary  married 
John  Craig,  of  whom  mention  has  already  been  made. 

Peggy  married  Joseph  Kirkland,  perhaps  a  son  of  the 
original  settler. 

Annie  married  a  Mr.  Morrow,  of  the  Hawfields,  and  Jennie 
married  a  Mr.  Allen,  also  of  the  Hawfields. 

It  was  through  the  above  mentioned  son,  William,  that  the 
name  has  been  perpetuated  in  the  New   Hope   congregation. 

Joseph  Kirkland  was  among  the  original  settlers,  and 
located  to  the  west  and  south  of  Mr.  Blackwood.  Two  of  his 
grandsons,  William  and  Joseph,  married  the  daughters  of 
Samuel  Craig,  Betsy  and  Isabel;  and  one  of  his  grand- 
daughters, Martha,  married  a  son  of  Samuel  Craig,  whose 
name  was  also  Samuel.  The  Blackwoods  and  Kirklands  have 
always  been  closely  connected  and  identified  with  New  Hope 
church.  From  her  earliest  history  to  the  present  day  these 
families  have  produced  a  number  of  members  and  office- 
bearers. At  the  present  time  both  families  have  a  represen- 
tative in  the  session. 

The  Freelands  were  also  among  the  original  settlers  and. 
were  closely  connected  with  the  Craigs  and  Kirklands.  The 
present  Johnston  family,  on  the  waters  of  New  Hope,  is  of 
somewhat  later  date,  and  on  the  father's  side  is  of  English 
descent.  But  both  these  families  have  long  been  identified 
with  the  church,  and  have  furnished  her  with  much  valuable 
material.  But  at  the  present  time  George  S.  Freeland,  a  com- 
municant, and  C.  W.  Johnston,  Esq.,  a  ruling  elder,  are  the 
only  male  representatives,  together  with  their  children,  of 
these  two  families  in  the  congregation. 

The  Geddes  family,  now  spelled  "Gattis,"  in  their  early 
history,  belonged    to   New   Hope  church,  but   nearly   all  of 


THE    CHURCH. THE    FIRST    BUILDING.  19 

them  are  now  in  the  Methodist  church.  One  of  the  descen- 
dants of  the  old  Elder  Alexander,  is  now  a  Methodist  Minis- 
ter, Thomas,  by  name. 

William  Burns,  a  weaver  by  trade,  was  early  on  the  ground 
at  New  Hope,  but  the  name  is  known  no  more.  One  of  his 
daughters  married  James  Craig,  a  grandson  of  William,  and 
one  of  his  grandsons  moved  to  Texas. 

There  are  now  no  male  survivors  in  the  congregation  of 
the  Mitchell  and  Hart  families,  which  figured  in  the  early 
stages  of  the  church's  history. 

The  Hogan  family,  in  connection  with  the  church,  dates 
from  about  the  year  1838,  and  at  the  present  time  one  of  her 
ruling  elders  is  John  T.  Hogan. 


THE  CHUKCH. 


THE      FIRST      BUILDING. 


The  first  church  building  erected,  and  which  was  called 
"New  Hope."  was  situated  in  Orange  county,  five  miles  sonth 
of  Hillsboro',  and  about  one-fourth  of  a  mile  east  of  the  pub- 
lic road  leading  to  Chapel  Hill.  It  was  necessarily  a  very 
rude  structure,  corresponding  with  the  almost  new  country 
and  straitened  circumstances  of  the  original  settlers.  It 
stood  just  outside  of  the  old  graveyard  at  the  north-west 
corner.  As  heretofore  stated,  it  was  built  by  a  part  of  the 
original  Hawfields  congregation,  and  perhaps  the  first  inten- 
tion was  merely  to  have  a  "  meeting-house,"  convenient  to  the 
few  families,  where  they  might  assemble  when  a  minister  by 
chance  should  visit  them.  This  is  a  reasonable  supposition, 
because  it  was  quite  a  number  of  years  after  this  house  was 
built  before  the  church  was  regularly  organized.  I  have  only 
traditional  authority  for  saying  that  in  this  house  Henry  Pa- 
tillo  occasionally  preached.  And  this  also  seems  reasonable, 
for  he  was  the  first  pastor  of   Hawfields  and  Eno   churches, 


20  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HOPE    CHURCH. 

and  as  the  New  Hope  people  still  adhered  to  the  Hawfields, 
he  was  likewise  their  pastor.  He  came  to  the  Hawfields  in 
the  year  1765  and  left  in  1774,  and  it  is  almost  certain  that 
this  house  at  New  Hope  was  built  before  he  came  to  the  field. 
But  whether  he  or  one  of  his  immediate  successors  organized 
the  church,  and  whether  in  this  house  or  not,  will  perhaps 
never  be  known,  though  it  is  confidently  believed  that  he  did 
organize  the  church,  and  in  this  house.  I  may  here  state 
that  the  original  records  of  New  Hope  church,  together  with 
the  records  of  the  first  twenty-five  years  of  Orange  Presby- 
tery's existence,  were  destroyed  by  fire  in  the  house  of  Dr. 
John  Witherspoon,  which  was  burned  the  first  day  of  Janu- 
ary, 1827.  This  is  a  matter  of  deep  though  vain  regret,  as  it 
necessarily  prevents  accuracy  of  dates  and  names,  as  well  as 
the  knowledge  of  much  valuable  information  pertaining  to  the 
early  church.  But  by  taking  into  consideration  all  the  facts 
which  I  have  been  enabled  to  collect,  I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  the  first  church  building  was  erected  about  the  year 
1760.  It  is  impossible  to  determine  anything  even  approxi- 
mating the  time  by  any  marks  in  the  old  graveyard.  The  first 
graves  were  marked  with  rough  stones  without  any  lettering, 
and  I  have  been  told  that  the  first  person  buried  there  was  a 
little  child  by  the  name  of  Steel,  who  was  in  some  way  con- 
nected with  Gilbert  Strayhorn.  The  oldest  date  I  have  ever 
been  able  to  find  is  in  the  corner  next  to  where  the  church 
stood,  and  reads  as  follows:  "D.  C  — N.  2.  — 1785."  My  in- 
terpretation of  this  inscription  is:  David  Craig;  died  Novem- 
ber 2,  1785.  The  location  of  the  graveyard  contiguous  to  the 
church  is  presumptive  evidence  in  favor  of  the  belief  that  the 
church  was  organized  here,  and  that  this  house  was  in  use  a 
long  time.  The  location  for  both  church  and  graveyard  was 
very  unsuitable,  the  ground  being  entirely  too  low,  and  it 
would  strike  one  as  singular  that  they  selected  tin's  spot  while 
there  are  so  many  beautiful  elevations  all  around.  The  land 
upon  which  this  church  was  built,  as  well  as  all  the  succeed- 
ing ones,  was  at  this  time  the  property  of  Gilbert  Strayhorn, 
and  whether  the  house  was  organized  in  this  house  or  not. 
it  is  certain  that  he  and  John  Craig  were  among  the  original 
movers  in  the  transaction. 


THE  SECOND  BUILDING. FIRST    MINISTERS    OF    THE    CHURCH.       21 


THE  SECOND  BUILDING, 

AND    FIRST    MINISTERS     OF    THE  CHURCH. 


This  house  was  located  about  two  hundred  yards  to  the 
south-west  from  the  first  building.  It  was  on  higher  ground, 
a  far  better  location,  and  about  the  same  distance  from  the 
spring,  which  was  to  the  north.  It  was  built  of  large  logs  in 
octagonal  shape,  or  rather  it  had  eight  corners,  and  seems  to 
have  been  quite  a  roomy  house.  It  was  surrounded  by  large 
trees,  some  of  which  are  still  standing. 

The  forest  at  that  time  was  composed  of  large  trees,  stand- 
ing at  considerable  distance  from  each  other,  and  the  wild 
pea-viue,  which  grew  luxuriantly,  instead  of  the  undergrowth 
which  we  now  have. 

Around  one  of  these  trees  near  to  the  church  it  was  the 
custom  of  the  congregation  to  stack  their  guns  during  the 
service,  while  a  sentinel  kept  watch  over  them,  and  gave  the 
alarm  in  case  of  the  approach.of  Indians. 

On  one  occasion  at  this  church  the  alarm  was  given,  and 
quite  a  number  of  red  men  were  seen  to  approach  within  a 
short  distance  from  the  church  and  suddenly  halt.  The 
minister,  who  must  have  bapn  the  Rev.  John  DeBow,  abrupt- 
ly closed  the  services,  and  lit  a  pipe  of  tobacco,  and  smoked 
as  he  walked  forth  amid  the  confused  and  frightened  congre- 
gation to  meet  the  Indians.  The  pipe  was  offered  to  the 
chief  of  the  clan,  who  received  it  and  smoked,  and  then  re- 
turned it  to  the  minister.  They  immediately  departed,  having 
understood  this  token  as  an  emblem  of  peace.  I  have  heard 
this  story  through  a  great-uncle  of  mine,  Isaac  Craig,  whose 
mother,  the  wife  of  James  Craig,  was  present  on  that  occa- 
sion. 


22  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HOPE    CHURCH. 

Perhaps  the  first  preacher  who  had  anything  like  a  regular 
appointment  at  New  Hope  church  was  the  Rev.  John  Debow. 
He  succeeded  the  Rev.  Henry  Patillo  as  pastor  of  Hawfields 
and  Eno  churches,  and  ministered  to  the  people  of  New  Hope 
as  time  and  opportunity  would  permtt.  He  was  a  young 
man  of  considerable  talent,  and  came  to  his  field  of  labor 
about  the  year  1775.  He  died  Sept.  8,  1783,  at  the  age  of 
thirty-eight,  and  was  buried  at  Hawfields  church.  I  have 
seen  his  grave,  and  have  been  informed  that  he  was  the  first 
person  buried  at  the  present  Hawfields  churchyard. 

The  next  minister  of  New  Hope  was  the  Rev.  Jacob  Lake, 
who  succeeded  Mr.  Debow,  serving  the  churches  in  the  same 
way  until  he  left  in  the  year  1790.  He  left  the  Presbytery  in 
the  year  1794,  having  been  connected  with  it  about  ten  years. 

The  next  minister  was  the  famous  William  F.  Thompson, 
the  first  pastor  of  the  church.  This  man  was  ordained  at  New 
Hope,  and  was  doubtless  installed  pastor  at  the  same  time. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  first  recorded  meeting  of 
Orange  Presbytery  now  in  existence  is  dated  Nov.  18,  1795, 
and  they  met  at  New  Hope  church.  This  was  the  first  meet- 
ing after  Concord  had  been  set  off  as  a  new  Presbytery,  and 
as  I  have  already  stated,  all  the  recorded  proceedings  of  the 
Presbytery  before  this  were  burned  with  the  records  of  New 
Hope  church.  But  according  to  this  first  record  of  the  Pres- 
bytery now  in  existence,  at  this  meeting  at  New  Hope,  the 
Rev.  James  Bowman  was  made  moderator.  William  F. 
Thompson  and  William  McGee  were  ordained,  and  John 
Gillispie  was  licensed.  Robert  Foster  and  Robert  Tate  were 
examined  as  candidates  on  parts  of  their  trial.  Robert  Tate 
was  an  uncle  of  my  grandfather,  Samuel  Strayhorn,  and 
became  one  of  the  pioneer  Presbyterian  ministers  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  state. 

Mr.  Thompson,  according  to  my  information,  was  a  native 
of  Connecticut,  and  continued  to  be  pastor  of  New  Hope 
church  until  Nov.  12,  1799,  when  he  resigned  his  charge  at  a 
pro  re-nata  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  held  at  Cross  Roads 
church.  He  left  the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery,  and  in  April, 
1802,  he  was  suspended  from  the  ministry   for   false  charges 


THE    FIRST    MINISTERS.  23 

made  against  the  Presbytery.  He  was  a  shrewd  man,  and 
during  his  ministry  at  New  Hope  he  aroused  the  people  to 
give  more  attention  to  schools,  and  from  that  time  through 
many  years  afterwards  a  school  was  generally  kept  up  at  the 
church. 

It  was  soon  after  Mr.  Lake's  departure  that  Gilbert  Stray- 
horn,  who  was  now  an  old  man,  made  a  deed  of  gift  "  to  the 
subscribers  of  the  church  and  their  successors  "  of  two  hun- 
dred acres  of  land.  This  deed  was  signed  and  sealed  by 
Gilbert  Stray  horn  the  25th  day  of  Feb.,  1792.  At  the  insti- 
gation of  Mr.  Thompson  a  parsonage  was  built  at  the  place 
where  William  0,  Claytor  now  lives,  and  a  large  portion  of 
the  aforesaid  two  hundred  acres  of  land  was  laid  off  as  a 
farm  to  be  attached  to  the  parsonage.  But  at  the  departure 
of  Mr.  Thompson  this  land,  in  some  way,  passed  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  church,  and  also  another  portion,  after  his  de- 
parture, went  in  the  same  way,  leavimg  only  seventy  acres  of 
the  original  tract  belonging  to  the  church.  There  has  been  a 
great  deal  said  about  these  transactions,  and  a  great  many 
conflicting  statements  have  been  made.  On  the  one  hand,  it 
has  been  claimed  that  the  instrument  of  wiiting  which  Mr. 
Thompson  drew  up  as  a  mere  statement  of  the  boundaries  of 
the  pastor's  farm,  and  which  the  elders  unwittingly  signed, 
proved  to  be  a  bona-fide  deed  to  him,  and  that  he  sold  the 
land  on  leaving  the  congregation.  On  the  other  hand,  it  has 
been  claimed  that  the  elders  of  their  own  free  will  sold  the  land, 
and  perhaps  appropriated  the  money  towards  the  building  of 
the  third  church,  or  in  settling  arrears  with  Mr.  Tnompson. 
Since  writing  the  first  edition  of  this  pamphlet,  I  have  seen 
the  old  deeds,  which  will  forever  set  the  matter  at  rest  as  to 
who  sold  the  lands,  but  the  question  of  right  or  wrong  in  the 
matter  still  remains 

On  the  twentieth  day  of  Sept.,  1799,  the  Rev.  William  F. 
Thompson  made  a  deed  to  John  Strayhorn,  eon  of  Gilbert, 
for  one  hundred  acres  of  land,  more  or  less.  1  have  seen  this 
deed,  and  never  in  my  life  have  I  seen  a  more  perfect  and 
beautiful  work  of  penmanship.  In  it  Mr.  Thompson  says. 
"  Said  lands  were  conveyed  and  made  over  to  me  by  bim,  said 


24  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HOPE    CHURCH. 

Gilbert  Strayhorn,  etc."'  Upon  this  statement  alone  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  whole  transaction  was  a  fraud,  and  yet  there 
are  some  strange  facts  connected  with  it. 

It  will  now  be  remembered  that  Gilbert  Strayhorn  made  a 
deed  of  these  said  lands  to  "  the  subscribers  of  New  Hope 
church,  and  to  their  successors  forever,"  on  the  25th  day  of 
Feb.,  1792.  This  was  three  years  before  Thompson  came  to 
New  Hope,  for  he  was  ordained  and  became  pastor  in  Nov., 
1795,  and  he  left  in  1799 — the  year  in  which  he  sold  the  land. 
Now  the  question  is,  what  right  had  Gilbert  Strayhorn  to 
make  a  deed  to  Mr.  Toompson, — or  who  will  suppose  that  he 
did  do  so  —  after  having  already  deeded  the  lands  three  or  four 
years  previous  to  the  church  ? 

Mr.  Thompson  says,  "  conveyed  to  me  by  him,  per  deed 
etc."  It  is  a  standing  fact  that  no  such  "per  deed,  etc,"  has 
ever  been  seen  or  recorded. 

One  of  the  strange  things  connected  with  the  matter,  is  the 
fact  that  Gilbert  Strayhorn  was  still  living  in  1799,  and  we 
would  naturally  expect  that  he  would  have  exposed  the  fraud; 
but  he  was  in  the  decripitude  of  old  age  and  incapicitated  for 
business  and  perhaps  knew  nothing  of  the  transaction,  and 
the  presumption  is  that  the  congregation  neither  knew  nor 
cared  concerning  fhe  matter,  and  so  it  passed  away  without 
special  notice.  And  as  to  John  Strayhorn  the  purchaser, 
who  was  a  son  of  Gilbert,  it  would  seem  that  he  would  have 
known  better  and  prevented  any  fraud,  but  some  one 
has  said,  "  he  may  have  wanted  the  land  very  bad."  I  am 
confident  the  deed  was  a  forgery. 

The  other  portion  of  land,  seventeen  acres,  in  the  south- 
west corner  of  the  tract,  was  sold  by  the  elders  and  subscribers 
of  New  Hope  church,  —  "after  mature  deliberation  and  con- 
sultation," for  church  repairs,  on  the  17th  day  of  May,  1817. 
This  was  an  honest  transaction,  but  I  am  of  decided  opinion 
that  they  had  no  right  to  do  so,  according  to  the  deed  of  1792. 
It  was  sold  to  Samuel  Strayhorn,  a  son  of  John,  who  now 
owned  the  Thompson  tract.  The  deed  was  signed  by  ruling 
elders  James  Hart,  John  Freeland,  James  Strayhorn,  John 
Strain  and  Alexander   Strain;  and   by   subscribers   William 


THE    FIRST    MINISTERS.  2"> 

Strayhorn,    John    Strayborn,    David    Strayborn,    Alexander 
Gattis,  George  Johnston  and  Andrew  Burns. 

The  wrorjg  that  may  have  been  perpetrated  is  a  matter  to 
be  regretted,  but  it  is  sheer  folly  for  anyone  at  this  day  and 
time  to  think  of  attempting  the  resurrection  of  those  transac- 
tions. For  whether  it  was  right  or  wrong,  or  in  accordance 
with  the  intentions  of  the  donor  or  not,  the  right  of 
possession  has  long  since  confirmed  these  transactions. 
The  agitation  of  the  question  of  reclaiming  these  lands 
can  never  amount  to  a  row  of  pins  towards  accomplishing  that 
end,  and  will  be  productive  of  no  good,  but  great  harm,  and 
therefore  ought  to  be  sedulously  avoided.  And  in  view  of 
the  past,  it  is  some  consolation  to  believe  that  the  remaining 
seventy  acres,  upon  which  all  of  the  churches  have  stood, 
will  never  pass  out  of  the  hands  of  the  congregation. 
The  next  minister  who  served  the  church  in  the  second  house 
of  worship  was  the  Rev.  James  H.  Bowman.  From  the 
Presbyterial  records  I  learn  that  in  the  year  1799  his  charge 
was  Eno  and  Little  River.  In  the  yeai  1800  he  was  sent  as 
a  missionary  to  the  west,  and  returned  in  the  fall  of  1801,  and 
perhaps  came  to  New  Hope  in  the  year  1802.  He  was  wholly 
different  from  Thompson  in  many  respects.  He  seems  to 
have  been  deeply  pious,  of  considerable  learning,  and  much 
engaged  in  teaching  school  in  connection  with  tiis  preaching. 
If  I  have  been  rightly  informed  he  taught  school  at  New 
Hope  during  his  ministry  as  stated  supply  to  the  church. 
My  grandfather,  and  others  whom  I  have  known,  reim  mbered 
him  well,  and  his  preaching.  His  ministry  closed,  or  rather 
he  left  the  Presbytery,  in  the  year  1815.  He  was  perhaps 
the  first  man  who  preached  in  the  third  house  of  worship, 
and  he  seems  to  have  been  greatly  beloved  by  the  people,  and 
spent  much  of  his  time  in  pastoral  visiting  among  them. 

I  am  not  aware  of  the  causes  which  about  this  time  led  to 
the  building  of  a  third  church.  Perhaps  the  old  one  was 
dilapidated  from  age,  or  it  may  be  that  the  advanced  ideas 
and  tastes  of  the  congregation  demanded  a  new  church.  In 
the  year  1800  there  was  a  great  revival  at  New  Hope  and  the 
people  came  from  great  distances  and  camped  for  days  on  the 


26  HISTORY   OF  NEW   HOPE   CHURCH. 

ground.  They  preached  and  prayed  and  sung  and  shouted, 
and  the  spirit  of  the  revival  spread  far  and  wide  into  other 
neighborhoods.  It  was  perhaps  the  fruits  of  this  revival 
which  largely  prompted  the  building  of  a  new  church. 


THE  THIRD  BUILDING, 

AND    MINISTERS    WHO    PREACHED    IN    IT. 


This  house  was  located  about  two   hundred  yards  to  the 
south-east  from  the   second.     The   situation   was   still   more 
desirable  than  the  second,  and  the   spring,  which   was   here- 
tofore on  the  north,  was  now  deserted  for  an  elegant   one   on 
the  south,  which  bubbles   out   of   a   solid  rock.     This   third 
church  was  built  in  the  year  1805,  and  destroyed  by   fire    on 
the  night  of  March   the  9th,  1862.     The   origin   of  the  fire 
which  destroyed  it  has  always  been  a   matter   of  conjecture, 
but  most  generally  believed  to   have   been  the  work  of  an 
incendiary.     It  occurred  on  Saturday  night,  and   I   well   re- 
member the  peculiar  and  almost  comical   expression   on  the 
face  of  the  Rev.   Dr.   James   Phillips,  when   he   walked   up 
and  stood  around  the  smouldering  ruins   on   Sabbath   morn- 
ing.    But  the  want  of  a  house  did   not  prevent   the  beloved 
old  doctor  from  preaching  the  gospel  that  day.     The  people 
assembled  under  the  trees   and    quietly   listened   to  a  most 
excellent  sermon   from   the   119th    Psalm   and   101st  verse. 
The  last  sermon  preached  in   this   house   was   by   the   Rev. 
Dr.  Charles  Phillips  on  a  public  "  fast  day,"  February  28th, 
1862,  the  text,  from  "The  wages  of  sin  is  death."     In  many  res- 
pects it  was  not  so  good  a  house  as  the  present  one,  but  answered 
all  the  purposes  for  more  than  fifty  years.     The  pulpit  was  in  the 
west   end  which   was   a  high   structure   with  several   steps 
ascending  up  into  it,  and  which  elevated  the   preacher   much 
above  the  people.     There  was   a   gallery   attachment  at  the 
east  end  for  the  accommodation  of  the   colored   people,  and 
under  this  gallery  was  a  door  of  entrance,  but  the  chief  door 
was  on  the  south  side. 


THE   THIRD   BUILDING. — MINISTERS.  27 

In  this  house,  after  Mr.  Bowman  had  left,  and  about  the 
year  1815,  the  Eev.  Eobert  H.  Chapman  berved  the  people 
as  stated  supply. 

The  Kev.  Elijah  Graves  succeeded  him,  and  preached 
from  November,  1818,  until  April  1820.  He  was  a  great 
temperance  reformer,  ana  many  signed  a  pledge  under  his 
preaching. 

The  Eev.  Dr.  John  Witherspoon  frequently  preached  at 
New  Hope  about  this  time,  and  occasionally  during  a  number 
of  years  after  this  date. 

These  brethren  were  located  at  Hillsboro,  and  engaged  in 
teaching  in  connection  with  the  church  there,  and  they  sup- 
plied New  Hope  as  time  and  opportunity  would  permit. 

We  have  now  reached  a  point  in  the  history  of  the  church 
from  which  we-  can  be  more  accurate  in  dates  and  names,  for 
henceforth  there  is  a  full  record  of  all  the  proceedings  of  the 
church. 

THE    RE-ORGANIZATION. 

The  first  minute  recorded  in  the  oldest  session  book  is  as 
follows: — 

"  New  Hope  ChuRCH, 

"April  22,  1820. 

"Session  met.  Present:  Kev.  S.  K.  Kollock,  Mod.:  James 
Strayhorn,  John  Strain,  James  Hart,  John  Freeland. 

"  Kev.  Mr.  Witherspoon  being  present  was  invited  to  take  a 
seat  as  a  member  of  the  session. 

k'Mr.  Kollock  laid  before  the  session  the  resolution  of  the 
Presbytery  'recommending  all  the  churches  under  their  care 
that  had  been  vacant  for  some  time  to  be  re-organized  and 
newly  regulated.'  It  seemed  upon  inquiry  that  there  was 
no  record  of  the  members  of  the  church,  and  that  owing  to 
the  want  of  stated  preaching  but  little  discipline  had 
hitherto  been  exercised.     Therefore, 

"  Kesolved,  That  on  to-morrow  the  church  be  re-organized 
and  the  members  be  admitted  by  a  public  assent  to  the 
articles  of  faith  and  covenant,  to  walk  as  disciples  of  Christ. " 


28  HISTORY    OF   NEW   HOPE   CHURCH. 

On  the  next  day  it  appears  that  the  following  came  for- 
ward and  assented  to  the  covenant: — 

Ruling  Elders  —  John  Strain,  James  Hart,  James  Stray- 
horn  and  John  Freeland.  Members  —  Alex  Gattis,  Samuel 
Faucett,  Rebecca  Craig,  Sr.,  Rebecca  Craig,  Jr.,  Penelope 
Strayhorn,  Elizabeth  Currie,  Jane  Freeland,  Elizabeth 
Davis,  Margaret  Craig  and  Elizabeth  Faucett. 

Aaron  Hunter  and  Jane  McCauley  seem  to  have  been 
members,  but  were  not  present  on  that  day. 

It  appears  from  the  above  minutes  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kollock 
was  at  this  time  pastor,  though  there  is  no  mention  made  of 
his  installation.  His  home  was  in  Hillsboro  and  he  preached 
at  New  Hope  in  connection  with  the  Hillsboro  church  until 
1825,  when  we  find  the  following  note  in  the  minutes: — ■ 

"In  May,  1825,  the  connection  between  Mr.  Kollock  and 
the  New  Hope  congregation  was  dissolved.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  Rev.  Elijah  Graves  as  stated  supply." 

Mr.  Graves  began  to  preach  at  New  Hope  the  second 
time  in  November,  1825,  and  continued  to  be  the  regular 
minister  until  May,  1831,  when  the  co-laborers,  Rev.  Dan- 
iel L.  Russell  and  Rev.  John  S.  McCutcheon  began  their 
ministrations. 

These  brethren  were  missionaries  or  evangelists,  and 
unitedly  preached  at  New  Hope  from  November,  1831,  until 
March,  1832 

They  were  immediately  followed  by  the  Rev.  Phillip 
Pearson,  who  remained  until  October  of  the  same  year. 

It  was  during  this  time  —  from  November,  1831,  until 
November,  1832,  —  that  the  church  enjoyed  a  great  and 
gracious  revival  of  religion  under  the  ministration  of  these 
three  brethren.  Numerous  and  substantial  tents  were  built 
upon  the  grounds,  and  the  people  came  from  all  quarters, 
and  lived  in  them  for  weeks  at  a  time  in  order  to  attend  the 
meetings  The  record  shows  that  there  were  at  least  seventy 
persons  admitted  to  the  communion  about  this  time,  and 
Dr.  John  Witherspoon  seems  to  have  been  present  at  most  of 
the  sessional  meetings. 

The  next  regular    stated    minister   after    Mr.    Graves   was 


THE  THIRD  BUILDING.  —  MINISTERS.  29 

the  Rev.  George  W.  Ferrill.  He  was  unanimously  elected 
pastor  March,  23,  1833,  and  was  installed  soon  after.  He  con- 
tinued to  preach  at  New  Hope  until  July,  1836,  when  the 
pastoral  relation  was  dissolved.  He  is  still  living  at  his 
home  in  Granville  county,  but  is  very  old  and  infirm,  and  has 
long  since  ceased  to  attend  the  church  courts. 

He  was  succeeded  by  the  Eev.  Dr.  James  Phillips,  who 
began  to  preach  at  New  Hope  as  stated  supply  in  August, 
1836,  and  he  continued  to  serve  the  chuich  in  this  relation 
until  December,  1865.  He  served  the  church  a  longer  period 
than  any  other  one  man,  and  was  greatly  beloved  by  the 
congregation.  When  he  ceased  to  preach  at  New  Hope — 
about  thirty  years  having  passed  away — the  congregation 
was  in  a  great  measure  a  new  generation  from  that  which 
was  present  when  he  began  his  labors  there.  His  life  and 
history  as  a  professor  in  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  as 
well  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel,  are  well  known,  not  only  in 
this  State,  but  throughout  the  South.  For  a  long  time  dur- 
ing the  early  history  of  Chapel  Hill  there  was  no  Presbyte- 
rian church  in  the  village,  consequently  the  people  of  New 
Hope  enjoyed  the  preachiDg  of  this  pious  and  learned  man 
almost  every  Sabbath  for  quite  a  number  of  years.  He  was 
a  pure  Englishman,  and  never  failed  to  betray  it  by  his  pe- 
culiar brogue.  His  name  and  memory  are  still  precious  in 
the  congregation — especially  with  those  who  knew  him  best. 

Eis  son,  the  Kev.  Dr.  Charles  Phillips,  united  with  the 
church  at  New  Hope  March  27.1842,  and  in  after  years,  when 
he  became  a  minister,  often  preached  there  in  connection 
with  his  father.  He  was  ordained  at  New  Hope  in  1866.  He 
was  one  of  the  brainest  men  that  North  Carolina  ever  pro- 
duced. His  life  work  was  teaching  and  yet,  he  was  a  most 
powerful  preacher — big  hearted  and  had  the  symplicity  of  a 
child  in  his  manner  and  illustrations. 

The  Hon.  David  L.  Swain  also  first  united  with  the  church 
at  New  Hope,  and  both  he  and  Dr.  Charles  Phillips  were 
dismissed  by  certificate  to  join  the  church  at  Chapel  Hill 
October  26th,  1845. 

As  before  stated,  it  was  on  Sunday  morning  of  March  10th, 


30    ,  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HOPE    CHURCH. 

1862,  when  Dr.  Phillips  and  the  congregation  came  together 
to  find  the  old  church  a  smouldering  heap  of  ruins.  At  that 
time  the  civil  war  was  the  all  absorbing  theme,  and  the 
hearts  of  the  people  were  filled  with  sadness — both  on  account 
of  the  desolation  upon  the  battle-fields  and  the  destruction 
of  their  cherished  old  landmark — the  church  of  their  fathers. 
This  house  had  stood  in  tact  since  the  year  1805,  but  it  was 
now  a  thing  of  the  past.  But  the  people  were  not  discouraged 
and  took  immediate  steps  towards  building  a  new  church. 
In  the  meantime  a  large  arbor  was  erected  on  the  grounds, 
under  which  the  people  worshipped  during  the  summer  of 
1862. 


THE  FOUBTH  BUILDING. 

AND     MINISTERS. 


This  house  stands  about  twenty  steps  to  the  northwest 
from  the  site  where  the  third  was  burDt.  It  is  a  very  neat 
and  comfortable  country  church,  and  capable  of  seating  an 
ordinarily  large  congregation.  It  was  built  in  war  times 
with  Confederate  money,  when  it  required  a  large  amount  of 
money  to  pay  for  a  small  amount  of  work.  David  Craig,  a 
ruling  elder,  who  still  lives,  was  an  active  mover  and  the 
chief  manager  in  its  erection.  Within  the  last  year  it  has 
been  painted,  and  its  appearance  much  improved.  This  house 
forms  a  water  shed  between  the  streams  of  Eno  and  New 
Hope,  or  the  Neuse  and  Cape  Fear  rivers. 

The  Kev.  Dr.  James  Phillips  preached  the  first  sermon 
in  this  house  to  a  large  congregation  on  Sunday,  the  25th  of 
October,  1863,  from  the  text,  Isaiah  35:8. 

After  Dr.  Phillips  ceased  to  serve  the  church — in  1865 — the 
Bev.  Thomas  Lynch  became  stated  supply,  and  served  the 
church  from  February,  1886,  until  the  winter  of  1867. 


THE   FOUKTH   BUILDING.  —  MINISTERS.  31 

It  was  during  this  period  that  the  Presbytery  of  Orange 
last  convened  at  New  Hope— April  11th,  1866 — at  which  time 
the  Eev,  Drs.  Charles  Phillips  and  Calvin  H.  Wiley  were 
ordained,  sine-titulo. 

After  Mr.  Linch  the  Eev.  Henry  B.  Pratt,  supplied  the 
church  for  the  space  of  six  months  in  connection  with  church 
at  Hillboro.  He  was  a  foreign  missionary,  and  spent  most 
of  his  life  in  South  America.  He  began  to  preach  in  May 
1868,  and  on  the  24th  day  of  said  month  and  year  the  writer 
of  this  sketch,  together  with  John  T.  Hogan,  Caroline  Stray- 
horn,  Elizabeth  and  Isabel  Kirkland,  were  received  and 
baptised  as  members  of  the  church.  And  the  first  sermon  I 
ever  preached  in  this  church  was  from  2  Cor.  5:20,  May  20th, 
1877. 

After  Mr.  Pratt  the  church  was  supplied  during  a  part  of 
1859  and  '70  by  the  Eev.  A.  Kirkland. 

In  1870  the  Eev.  T.  U.  Faucett  became  stated  supply,  and 
served  the  church  until  the  fall  of  1872. 

The  Eev.  C.  N.  Morrow  preached  for  a  short  while  in  1873 
and  Eev.  J.  L.  Currie  a  short  while  in  the  year  1874. 

In  August  1874,  the  Eev.  P.  H.  Dalton  became  stated 
supply,  and  served  the  church  in  this  relation  until  January 
6th,  1884,  when  he  was  installed  pastor.  In  February  1786,  he 
offered  his  resignation  of  the  pastoral  charge,  which  was  not 
accepted  by  the  great  majority  of  the  congregation,  and  he 
still  continued  to  be  pastor  of  the  church  until  December, 
1886,  when  the  pastoral  relation  was  dissolved.  Mr.  Dalton 
united  with  the  church  at  New  Hope  while  a  student  at 
Chapel  Hill,  September  the  4th,  1842,  and  his  membership 
has  never  been  removed,  During  his  ministry  at  New  Hope 
for  the  past  twelve  years,  according  to  his  own  statement, 
there  have  been  at  least  fifty  additions  to  the  membership, 
the  congregation  having  largely  increased,  and  several 
families  have  been  brought  in  which  had  no  connection  with 
the  church.  In  closing  a  recent  lettle  to  the  writer  he  says, 
"I  have  worked  hard,  and  under  unfavorable  circumstancas, 
but  God  has  blessed  my  labors." 

Before  the  departure  of  Mr.  Dalton  there  arose  trouble  in 


32  HISTORY    OF   NEW    HOPE   CHURCH. 

the  church  which  seemed  to  be  chiefly  confined  to  the  session. 
They  could  not  agree  touching  many  points,  and  did  not  act 
harmoniously  among  themselves.  The  church  remained 
vacant  about  one  year,  during  which  time  the  Presbytery 
sent  a  commission  to  the  church  which  apparently  settled  all 
existing  troubles. 

In  March,  1887,  Rev.  James  L.  Currie  was  installed  pastor, 
which  relation  existed  until  November,  1889,  when  it  was 
dissolved. 

During  this  short  pastorate  fresh  troubles  arose  which 
involved  certain  members  of  the  church  and  session.  A  case 
growing  out  of  the  settlement  of  an  estate  by  a  member  of 
the  congregation,  and  which  properly  belonged  to  the  civil 
courts,  was  allowed  to  come  before  the  session.  This  case 
was  finally  adjudicated  by  an  adjourned  meeting  of  the  Pres- 
bytery, March  5th,  1889,  and  the  result  only  widened  the 
breach  in  the  session  and  intensified  a  spirit  of  bitterness  on 
the  part  of  certain  members. 

Whereupon  a  private  member  of  the  church,  Mr.  David  A. 
Claytor,  originated  and  executed  a  petition  signed  by  a  large 
majority  of  the  church,  asking  the  entire  bench  of  active 
elders  to  resign,  namely:  Messrs.  John  T.  Hogan,  Chas.  W. 
Johnston,  William  C.  Claytor,  Samuel  D.  Blackwood,  Samuel 
Kirkland  and  Leroy  Craig. 

Ruling  elder  David  Craig,  who  is  now  an  old  man  and 
infirm,  and  who  enjoys  the  confidence,  love  and  esteem  of  the 
entire  church,  was  not  included  in  this  petition. 

The  three  first  named  elders  expressed  their  willingness  to 
resign,  the  three  last  named  refused. 

The  petition  was  then  sent  up  to  the  Presbytery.  The 
Presbytery  met  at  the  church  in  an  adj  ourned  meeting  May 
16,  1889;  after  hearing  all  the  parties,  dissolved  the  relation  as 
elders  between  all  the  aforesaid  six  brethren  and  the  church, 
and  ordered  a  new  election. 

The  election  was  held  May  25th,  1889,  and  was  presided 
over  by  the  Rev.  P.  H.  Johnston,  D.  D.  Messrs.  Chas.  W. 
Johnston,  John  T.  Hogan  and  Wm.  C.  Claytor  were 
re-elected — a  majority  of   the   ballots   cast   determining  the 


MINISTERS.  —  DATE    OF   THEIR    LABORS.  33 

number  elected,  as  well  as  the  men  chosen.  These  brethren 
were  re-installed  in  the  presence  of  a  large  congregation. 

Another  adjourned  meeting  of  the  presbytery  was  held  at 
the  church  in  the  summer  of  1890,  in  order,  if  possible  to 
reclaim  certain  disaffected  and  absenting  members. 

The  next  pastor  called  to  New  Hope  church  in  connection 
with  Chapel  Hill,  was  Eev.  James  E.  Fogartie,  who  was 
installed  Nov.  30,  1890.  About  this  time  Eev.  Dr.  W.  D 
Morton  and  Eev.  Mr.  Maxwell,  synodical  evangelists,  con- 
ducted a  meeting  at  New  Hope  with  blessed  results.  Quite 
a  number  have  been  added  to  the  church,  and  Mr.  Fogartie, 
the  new  pastor,  has  already  won  the  hearts  of  the  people. 

It  is  to  be  devoutly  hoped  that  the  church  in  the  future, 
"forgetting  those  things  which  are  behind,  and  reaching 
forth  unto  those  things  which  are  before,  will  press 
toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in 
Christ  Jesus,'1  and  go  on  to  grow,  and  to  prosper,  and  to  con- 
quer, through  him  who,  "loved  the  church  and  gave  himself 
for  it." 


THE    NAMES     OF     THE     MINISTEES     OF     THE 

CHUECH. 

AND  THE  DATE  OF  THEIR  LABORS. 


Eev.  Henry  Patillo,  Organizer,           -  -           About  1765 

Eev.  John  Debow,  Stated  Supply,         -  1775 

Eev.  Jacob  Lake,  Stated  Supply,         -         -  -             1785 

Eev.  Wm.  M.  Thompson,  Pastor,         -  -          -            1795 

Eev.  James  H.  Bowman,  Stated  Supply,  .         -          1802 

Eev.  Robert  H.  Chapman,  Stated  Supply,  -         -         1815 

Eev.  Elijah  Graves,  Stated  Supply,           -  -         -         1817 

Eev.  Shepherd  K.  Kollock,  Pastor,         -  1820 


34  HISTOEY   OF   NEW   HOPE    CHURCH. 

Eev.  Elijah  Graves,  Stated  Snpply,          -  -         -         1S25 

Rev.  Daniel  L.  Russell,  Evangelist,         -  1831 

Rev.  John  S.  McCutcheon,  Evangelist,      -  -         -         1831 

Rev.  Philip  Pearson,  Evangelist,       -  1832 
Rev.  George  W.  Ferrill,  Pastor,        ....         1833 

Rev.  James  Phillips,  D.  D.,  Stated  Supply,  -        -       1836 

Rev.  Thomas  Lynch,  Stated  Supply,         -  -         -         1866 

Rev.  Henry  B.  Pratt,  Stated  Supply,         -  -         -         1868 

Rev.  Alexander  Kirkland,  Slated  Supply,  -         -          1869 

Rev  Thomas  U.  Faucett,  Stated  Supply,  -          -         1870 

Rev.  Calvin  N.  Morrow,  Stated  Supply,      -  -         -       1873 

Rev.  James  L.  Currie,  Stated  Supply,         -  -         -       1874 

Rev.  Pleasant  H.  Dalton,  Stated  Supply,  -          -         1874 

Rev.  Pleasant  H.  Dalton,  Pastor,         -  1884 

Rev.  James  L.  Currie,  Prstor,         -  1887 

Rev.  James  E.  Fogartie,  Pastor,         -  1890 


THE  RULING  ELDERS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


FROM  this  point  forward  in  the  history  of  New  Hope 
church  the  writer  desires  to  call  especial  attention.  If  we 
lose  the  line  of  our  ancestry  we  olten  lose  sight  of  the  re- 
peated fulfilment  of  the  promises  of  God  to  His  people.  This 
is  an  important  matter,  and  should  be  impressed  upon  the 
minds  of  our  children  and  our  children's  children.  For  be  it 
remembered  "  Oar  God  is  a  covenant-keeping  God.''  His 
promise  is  unto  His  children  and  to  their  seed  forever.  And 
"He  is  not  slack  concerning  His  promise,  as  some  men  count 
slackness.  This  thought  is  beautifully  expressed  by  Wil- 
liam N.  Patterson,  a  great-grandson  of  Gilbert  Stray  horn, 
who  in  a  recent  letter  to  the  writer  says,  "The  divine  inspi- 
rations as  taught  and  enjoyed  by  the  founders  of  old  New 
Hope  church  can  never  be  lost  to  their  descendants.     Family 


RULING  ELDERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  35 

connections  and  other  causes  may  for  a  time  draw  them  from 
the  worship  of  their  fathers,  but  intuitively  we  see  them  away 
down  along  the  course  of  time  moving  into  line  again."  Let 
this  be  noted  as  we  trace  the  eldership  and  the  families  of 
New  Hope  church  in  connection  with  Gilbert  Stray  horn  and 
John  Craig,  the  original  founders  of  the  church. 

From  the  time  the  church  was  organized  —  most  probably 
by  Henry  Patillo,  and  about  1765,  —  until  the  year  1795  the 
following  persons  were  known  to  have  been  elders:  Gilbert 
Strayhorn,  John  Oraig,  John  Mitchell,  Robert  Baker,  Mr. 
Gill,  Alexander  Strain  and  James  Hart.  There  may  have 
been  others  whose  names  I  have  never  learned,  but  these 
were  elders  during  the  first  thirty  years  of  the  church's  his- 
tory. And  of  these  Messrs.  Mitchell,  Baker  and  Gill  have 
left  no  representatives.  The  Mitchells  were  connected  with 
the  Faucetts,  and  the  latter  family  was  three  times  afterwards 
represented  in  the  session,  but  this  family  also  has  ceased  to 
be  found  in  the  congregation. 

About  the  year  1795  the  following  three  persons  were  or- 
dained and  installed  elders,  and  they  —  with  James  Hart- — 
constituted  the  entire  session  at  the  re-organization  of  the 
church  in  April,  1820.  They  were  James  Strayhorn,  John 
Strain  and  John  Freeland. 

Gilbert  Strayhorn  and  John  Craig  were  now  dead  —  the 
former  having  died  Feb.  6, 1803,  and  the  latter  Feb.  19,  1816. 
The  one  was  88  years  old  and  the  other  was  about  90.  It 
will  now  be  noticed  that  the  above  named  James  Strayhorn 
was  a  son  of  Gilbert.  James  Hart  married  his  daughter, 
Nancy;  John  Strain  was  his  nephew  and  married  his  daugh- 
ter, Miriam,  and  John  Freeland  was  in  some  way  closely 
connected  with  John  Craig. 

From  the  minutes  of  Orange  Presbytery  I  learn  that 
John  Craig  attended  the  Presbytery  at  Hawfields  in  April, 
1796;  John  Freeland  at  Buffalo  church  in  September,  1796; 
John  Straiu  at  Ptaftswamp  church  in  March,  1797;  Mr.  Stray- 
horn at  Hawfields  in  October,  1797.  I  cannot  tell  whether 
this  was  the  father  or  son,  as  the  christian  name  is  not  given. 
James  Hart  attended  at  Alamance  church  in  September,  1798, 


36  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HOPE    CHURCH. 

and  John  Mitchell  at  Eno  church  in  March,  1799.  From 
these  facts  it  is  evident  that  the  four  above  mentioned  elders, 
who  were  present  at  the  re-organization  of  the  church  in  1820, 
were  ordained  about  the  year  1795. 

The  next  ordination  occurred  Oct.  15,  1820,  when  the 
following  three  persons  were  added  to  the  session:  Alex- 
ander Gattis,  Samuel  Faucett  and  Gilbert  Strayhorn.  The 
latter  was  a  grandson  of  Gilbert,  the  old  elder,  and  a  son  of 
William, 

The  next  ordination  occurred  Feb.  1,  1832,  when  tbe  fol- 
lowing five  persons  were  added  to  the  session:  William  Brown, 
Alexander  Strain,  Samuel  Hart,  David  Hart  and  Allen  Petty. 
Again  it  will  be  noticed  that  two  of  these  —  the  two  Harts  — 
were  the  grandsons  of  Gilbert  Strayhorn.  Mr.  Strain  was  a 
son  of  Alexander.  Of  the  other  two  there  is  neither  name 
nor  representative  in  the  congregation  at  the  present  time. 

In  May,  1836,  John  R,  Faucett  was  received  and  installed 
an  elder  from  the  Cross  Roads  church. 

The  next  ordination  occurred  May  9,  1840,  when  the  fol- 
lowing four  persons  were  added  to  the  session:  George  A. 
Faucett,  David  Craig,  William  C.  Blackwood,  and  Joseph 
Kirkland.  And  again  it  will  be  noticed  that  David  Craig 
is  a  grandson  of  John  Craig  and  a  great-grandson  of  Gil- 
bert Strayhorn.  And  all  of  these  four,  except  Mr.  Faucett, 
were  the  great-grandsons  of  William  Craige,  and  Joseph 
Kirkland  was  the  father  of  the  present  Rev.  A.  Kirkland. 

In  September,  1859,  the  following  five  persons  were  or- 
dained and  installed  elders:  Samuel  S.  Claytor,  Alexander 
Dickson,  William  S.  Kirkland,  Bryant  Strayhorn  and  George 
R.  Long.  We  will  note  again  the  connection  with  the  old 
elders:  Bryant  Strayhorn  was  a  grandson  of  Gilbert,  and  his 
wife,  Mary  Strain,  was  a  granddaughter.  Mr.  Kirkland  was 
a  great-grandson  of  William  Craige,  and  married  a  great- 
granddaughter  of  Gilbert  Strayhorn.  Mr.  Long  was  a  grand- 
son of  a  grandson  of  John  Craig.  Mr.  Claytor  was  in  some 
way  connected  with  the  Strayhorns  through  the  Cabes. 

In  June,  1871,  John  T.  Hogan  and  Samuel  D.  Blackwood 
were  ordained  and  added  to  the  bench  of  elders.     Here  again 


RULING  ELDERS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  37 

Mr.  Hogan  is  a  direct  descendant  of  the  old  elder,  John 
Freeland,  and  married  a  great-granddaughter  of  Gilbert 
Strayhorn.  Mr.  Blackwood  is  a  grandson  of  a  daughter  of 
John  Craig,  and  married  not  only  a  great-granddaughter  of 
John  Craig,  but  a  granddaughter  of  the  grandchildren  of 
Gilbert  Strayhorn  in  direct  line  from  both  her  father  and 
mother. 

The  next  ordination  occurred  July  8,  1877,  when  William 
C.  Claytor,  Nettleton  G.  Craig  and  Charles  W.  Johnston 
Were  made  elders.  Mr.  Claytor  is  a  son  of  the  elder  ordained 
in  1859.  Mr.  Craig  was  "  a  choice  young  man"  —  born  Jan. 
16,  1849,  and  died  May  2,  1879,  —  and  a  great-grandson  of 
John  Craig,  and  a  great-great-grandson  of  Gilbert  Strayhorn 
in  direct  line  from  both  his  father  and  mother.  And  Mr. 
Johnston  is  a  grandson  of  Gilbert  St  ray  horn's  daughter, 
Mary,  who  married  John  Cabe. 

The  next  and  last  ordination  of  elders  at  New  Hope  oc- 
curred July  17,  1879,  when  Samuel  Kirkland  and  Leroy 
Craig  were  added  to  the  session.  Mr.  Kirkland  is  a  great- 
grandson  of  William  Craige,  and  his  wife  is  a  granddaughter 
of  John  Craig  and  a  great-granddaughter  of  Gilbert  Stray- 
horn. Mr  Craig  stands  in  the  same  relation  to  John  Craig 
and  Gilbert  Strayhorn  as  that  described  above  in  the  case  of 
Nettleton  G.  Craig. 

Thus  ends  the  long  list  of  elders  who  have  officiated  in  the 
affairs  of  New  Hope  church,  and  I  hope  I  will  be  pardoned  if 
1  here  record  my  own  name,  David  Irvin  Craig,  —  a  great- 
great-grandson  of  both  William  Craige  and  Gilbert  Stray- 
horn. I  was  born  Feb.  11,  1849;  studied  at  Davidson  Col- 
lege, and  graduated  at  Columbia  Theological  Seminary,  S.  C, 
May  8,  1878,  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel  at  Greensboro, 
N.  C,  May  31,  1878,  and  was  ordained  and  installed  pastor  at 
Reidsville,  N.  C,  June  1,  1879,  where  I  still  abide. 

I  have  already  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  Rev. 
Robert  Tate  was  a  grandson  of  Gilbert  Strayhorn. 

The  Rev.  G.  A.  Russell,  of  Term.,  and  the  Rev.  Andrew 
Craige  were  both  grandsons  of  John  Craig,  and  the  Rev. 
Alexander  Blackwood   and   Rev.    Alexander  Kirkland    both 


db  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HOPE    CHURCH. 

sprang  from  New  Hope  church,  also  Rev.  Braxton  Craig,  a 
Baptist  minister,  and  Eev.  Newell  Strayhorn,  a  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  minister  in  Austin,  Texas.  I  have  also  been 
reliably  informed  that  there  are  ten  or  a  dozen  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  ministers  in  the  west  who  can  trace  their  origin 
to  old  New  Hope  church. 

Thus  let  it  be  carefully  noted  that  nearly  all  of  these  min- 
isters and  elders  are  either  the  direct  descendants,  or  are  in 
some  way  closely  connected  with  the  original  founders  of  the 
church,  therefore  clearly  illustrating  the  truth  of  God's 
promises  to  them  that  keep  His  covenant.  And  the  same 
will  be  equally  apparent  if  we  have  the  time  and  patience  to 
enter  into  the  large  field  of  family  connections  and  their  rela- 
tions to  the  church. 


NAMES  OF  THE  ELDERS  OE  THE  CHURCH, 

AND    THE    TIME    OF    THEIR    ORDINATION. 


Gilbert  Strayhorn,      :         About  1765 
John  Craig,     : 
John  Mitchell, 
Robert  Baker, 

Mr. Gill, 

Alexander  Strain, 
James  Hart, 

The  above  named  persons  were  the  elders  through  the  first 
thirty  years  of  the  church's  existence. 

James  Strayhorn,  :         :         1795 

John  Strain,     :  :         :         : 

John  Ereeland,   :         :         : 


THE  NEW   GRAVEYARD. 


39 


Alexander  Gattis,     : 
Samuel  Faucett,         : 
Gilbert  Strayhorn,     : 
William  Brown,         : 
Alexander  Strain,     : 
Samuel  Hart,     :         : 
David  Hart,     :         : 
Allen  Petty,     :         : 
John  E.  Faucett,     : 
George  A.  Faucett,        : 
David  Craig,      :         : 
William  C.  Blackwood, 
Joseph  Kirkland,     : 
Samuel  C.  Claytor,     : 
Alexander  Dickson, 
William  S.  Kirkland, 
Bryant  Strayhorn, 
George  B.  Long,      : 
John  T.  Hogan,     :         : 
Samuel  D.  Blackwood, 
William  C.  Claytor,       : 
Nettleton  G.  Craig, 
Charles  W.  Johnston, 
Samuel  Kirkland,     : 
Leroy  Craig,      :         : 


1820 


1832 


1836 
1840 


1859 


1871 
« 

1877 

u 

It 

1879 


THE  NEW   GRAVEYARD. 


The  old  graveyard  near  the  site  of  the  first  churcb  was 
badly  located,  the  ground  being  too  low  and  forming  almost 
a  basin,  and  in  the  winter  season  it  was  almost  impossible  to 
bury  the  dead  in  a  dry  tomb.  Great  dissatisfaction  existed 
in  the  minds  of  many  persons  as  they  saw   their   loved   ones 


40  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HOPE    CHURCH. 

thus  laid   away.     It   was   in   December,  1859,  when   a    little 
infant  brother  of  mine  was  buried  there  under  just  such    cir- 
cumstances.    My  father,  James    Newton    Craig,  was   greatly 
troubled  and  dissatisfied,  and   determined   that  he  would  re- 
move the  remains    at   some   future   day.     It  was  never  done, 
however,  until  he  died  Feb.  11,  1879,  when  the  remains  were 
transferred  to  the  new  graveyard  and  deposited  by    his    side. 
But  when  he  had  a  second  child  to  die  he  determined  to  seek 
a  new  and  dry    place  where    he    might   lay   its    body.     And 
accordingly,  in  company  with  ruling    elder    David    Craig,  he 
selected  a  spot  in  the  present  graveyard,  where  his  little  son, 
Vernon,  nine  months  old,  was  buried  the  1st  day  of  January, 
1869.     This  was  the  first  grave,  and  the  origin  of  the  present 
burying  ground  at  New  Hope  church,  where  scores  have  since 
been  buried.     It  is  a  dry  and    beautiful    location,  looking    to 
the  sunrise,  and  a  little  south  of  east   from   the   church,  and 
will,  no  doubt,  receive  the  mortal  remains  of   generations   to 
come. 


NEW  HOPE  SOLDIEKS 

IN  THE  WAR  BETWEEN  THE  STATES.  —  DEATH  ROLL. 


The  following  persons  lived  within  the  bounds  of  New 
Hope  congregation,  and  gave  their  lives  to  the  "Lost  Cause  " 
Samuel  A.  Craig,  William  H.  Craig,  Joseph  A.  Craig,  Thomas 
J.  Stray  horn,  George  Stray  horn,  Samuel  Stray  horn,  AVilliam 
H,  Strayhorn,  Egbert  Strayhorn,  Greene  Strayhorn,  Wiley 
Strayhorn,  Archibald  Strayhorn,  John  Kirkland,  Alexander 
Baldwin,  Jackson  Borland,  William  Borland,  Wilton  B.  Bob- 
son,  Orin  A.  Watson,  Bartlett  Bishop,  William  J.  Long, 
William  G.  Latta,  Jordan  Williams,  Henry  Gilliam,  Wisely 
Barton,  Maurice  Sharp,  William  Crabtree,  Leonard  Crabtree. 
Munroe  Crabtree,  William  B-hodes,  John  Neal,  Thomas 
Sykes,  Kein  Sykes.  John  Howard,  William  Thompson,  Mun- 
voe  Thompson.  Samuel  Thompson. 


FAMILY    HI8T0EY.  41 


FAMILY  HISTOKY. 


In  endeavoring  to  give  a  brief  account  of  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  some  of  these  fathers  of  the  church  my  effort 
must  necessarily  be  very  imperfect.  I  therefore  ask  the  for- 
bearance of  my  friends,  and  hope  at  some  future  day  to  see 
the  work  corrected  and  arranged  in  better  form. 

THE    STKAYHORN    FAMILY. 

The  number  of  Gilbert  Strayhorn's  children,  their  names 
and  places  of  residence  have  already  been  stated. 

JOHN 

was  his  eldest  child,  and  just  here  I  may  call  attention  to  a 
note  in  the  old  session  book.  It  states  that  John  Stray  horn, 
the  son  of  Gilbert,  who  died  in  1826,  aged  84,  was  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania  and  a  member  of  the  church  before  coming  to 
North  Carolina.  It  has  been  stated  by  William  Burns,  a 
grandson  of  old  William  Burns,  and  who  was  an  old  man 
when  he  died,  that  this  John  Strayhorn  was  a  bound  boy  or 
young  man  in  the  service  of  William  Barns,  and  that  he  came 
to  North  Carolina  in  company  with  him  from  Pennsylvania. 
It  has  also  been  said  that  he  was  a  younger  brother  of  Gil- 
bert Strayhorn,  and  that  their  father's  name  in  Pennsylvania 
was  Gilbert.  If  this  be  true  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the 
name  of  "  Strayhorn "  was  adopted  by  him  along  with  his 
brother.  He  seems  never  to  have  had  a  family  and  died  a 
good  man.  It  was  owing  to  the  existence  of  this  man  that  I 
mentioned  a  probable  third  son  in  the  original  family  in 
Pennsylvania,  on  page  7. 

The  John  Strayhorn  before  us  now,  the  son  of  Gilbert  the 
father  of  the  name,  was  born  in  the  Hawfields  in  1742,  and 
afterwards  was  mairied  there  to  Elizabeth  Johnston,  by 
whom  he  had  twelve  children. 


42  HISTORY   OF   NEW   HOPE    CHURCH. 

Some  interesting  stories  are  told  by  Mr.  John  A.  Freeland 
concerning  this  man,  whom  he  well  remembers.  It  seems  he 
was  a  revolutionary  soldier,  and  had  chai'ge  of  the  rear  wagon 
in  Morgan's  retreat  after  the  battle  of  the  Cowpens.  The 
wagon  was  loaded  with  prisoners  and  plunder,  and  as  he  was 
crossing  a  swimming  stream,  one  wheel  struck  a  floating  log, 
and  he  gave  a  sorrel  mare  a  lick  with  the  whip,  when  she 
went  to  the  bottom  and  pulled  the  wagon  over.  Cannons  on 
both  sides  of  the  river  were  in  readiness  to  fire  until  he 
passed  over. 

Again,  he  was  stationed  on  a  hill  on  the  south  side  of  Eno 
river,  opposite  Hillsboro,  when  Lord  Cornwallis  took  that 
"  whig  capital,"  capturing  the  Governor  and  routing  the  un- 
fortunate forty-two  whigs  who  were  at  the  public  spring 
getting  ready  to  fight.  There  Thomas  Freeland  fell,  shot 
through  the  head  by  a  tory.  The  grandfather  of  Mr.  Free- 
land,  coming  from  Haw  river,  dug  a  hole  and  buried  him. 
He  does  not  say  which  grandfather,  Mr.  Strain  or  the  old 
Elder  John  Freeland.  His  grave  is  on  the  hill  near  Kirk- 
land's  old  tan  yard.  The  British  and  Tories  in  high  glee  left 
the  dead  to  bury  the  dead,  and  searched  the  country,  bringing 
in  whigs  before  Lord  Cornwallis,  who  sat  in  Cain's  old  store 
as  judge  and  jury  until  the  old  jail  was  full. 

Another  story  Mr.  Freeland  relates  as  told  to  him  by  this 
man,  John  Strajdiorn,  is  as  follows:  —  Captain  Young,  of 
Hillsboro,  collected  about  one  hundred  whigs  and  went  to 
fight  Dick  Edwards  on  Cane  Creek.  The  whigs  were  on  a 
road  leading  to  a  large  hill,  where  the  road  forked.  The 
tories  had  news  of  their  approach,  and  had  collected  about 
three  hundred  men  and  were  lying  in  ambush  on  one  of  the 
forks  of  the  road  going  around  the  hill.  But  finding  that  the 
whigs  had  taken  the  other  fork,  they  ran  around  and  overtook 
three  men  who  were  behind,  and  killed  them.  Here  the 
fight  began,  and  Captain  Young  was  killed  and  Alexander 
Geddes,  the  old  elder  of  New  Hope  church  in  after  years, 
was  wounded.  Then  Mr.  Strayhorn  said,  "  I  looked  through 
the  sight  of  my  rifle  at  their  captain  and  fired,  and   he   fell ! 


FAMILY    HISTORY.  43 

The  fight  was  soon  ended  and  we  returned  with  our  brave 
dead."  As  Mr.  Freeland  truly  remarks,  "  What  was  the  his- 
tory of  one  was  the  history  of  nearly  all  of  New  Hope's  men, 
—  fighting  for  American  liberty  and  against  a  State  Church, 
which  was  then  the  Church  of  England." 

His  children  were  as  follows: 

Charles,  who  married  Mary  Piper,  and  some  of  whose 
descendants  are  to  be  found  in  Durham  county. 

Jane,  who  married  Alexander  Craig,  the  father  of  David 
Craig,  who  is  now  the  oldest  elder  in  the  church  and  the 
father  of  elder  Nettleton  Craig,  deceased,  and  of  Samuel  and 
William,  who  died  in  the  civil  war. 

Nancy,  who  married  Joseph  Freeland. 

Gilbert,  who  married  Jane  Kirkland. 

William,  who  married  Nancy  Strain. 

Samuel,  who  married  Sarah  Hart;  these  were  the  parents 
of  Mrs.  William  S.  Kirkland. 

George,  who  married  Mary  Brassfield. 

Abner  accidentally  hung  himself  while  a  boy. 

Martha,  who  married  Sampson  Moore,  whose  children 
were  John,  Thomas,  Mrs.  Chesley  Patterson,  Mrs.  Dr. 
Rhodes,  Mrs.  Reed,  Mrs.  Leroy  Stray  horn,  etc. 

Bryant,  who  married  Mary  Strain,  whose  sons  all  died  in 
the  war,  —  George,  Samuel  and  Hooper. 

David,  who  married  Annie  Freeland,  and  was  the  father 
of  John,  who  married  Eliza  Cole,  and  of  Thomas,  who  fell  in 
the  battle  of  Stone  River,  Tenn.  John  is  the  father  of  Caro- 
line, who  is  the  wife  of  Milton  Craig. 

Mary,  who  married  Robert  Davis,  and  some  of  whose 
children  were  Silas,  Mrs.  Henry  Turner  and  Mrs  Bruce. 

WILLIAM, 

the  second  son,  married  two  wives,  Mary  Tate  and  Mary 
Hunter.     By  Mary  Tate  he  had  three  children,  as  follows:  — 

Nancy,  who  married  Elisha  Smith,  whose  children  were 
Mrs.  Anderson  Tate  and  William,  who  married  Everline 
Shields. 

Samuel,    who   married   Mary    Moore,   and   who   was   the 


44  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HOPE    CHURCH. 

father  of  William  F.  Strayhorn,  the  father  of  Isaac,  Thomas 
and  Mrs.  Berry;  Mrs  David  Craig,  Mrs.  Newton  Craig,  my 
mother,  and  Thomas,  who  fell  in  the  battle  of  Ream's  Station. 

Gilbert  committed  suicide. 

By  Mary  Hunter  he  had  seven  children,  as  follows:  — 

Sarah,  who  married  Samuel  Tate,  of  the  Hawfields,  the 
father  of  Lemuel,  Thomas,  William,  Pinkney,  Mary,  Mrs. 
Johnston,  Mrs.  Dickson,  Mrs.  Latta  and  Mrs.  Freeland. 

John  never  married. 

William,  who  married  Nancy  Faucett,  and  their  three 
daughters  married  William  Tate,  Gilbert  Craig  and  George 
Strayhorn. 

Miriam  never  married. 

David,  who  married  Sarah  Tate,  and  their  children  were 
Mary,  Newell,  Arabella,  Yancey,  etc.  Newell  is  a  Cumber- 
land Presbyterian  minister  in  Austin,  Texas. 

Mary,  who  married  Thomas  Tate;  unknown  to  me. 

Aaron,  who  married  Nancy  Patterson,  whose  children 
were  William,  Mary,  Sarah,  etc. 

JAMES, 

the  third  son,  married  Rachael  Cabe,  by  whom  he  had  five 
children,  as  follows:  — 

William,  who  married  Nancy  Thompson,  whose  children 
were  Thompson,  James,  Rachael,  etc. 

John,  who  married  Susan  Borland,  and  who  was  the  father 
of  Wiley,  Greene,  Egbert,  Sidney  and  Malitha,  who  married 
Alexander  Borland.  —  These  sons  all  died  in  the  war,  except 
Sidney. 

James,  who  married  Mary  Blackwood,  and  who  was  the 
father  of  Calvin,  Robert,  Maggie,  and  Julia,  who  married 
John  T.  Hogan. 

Elizabeth  never  married. 

Mary,  who  married  Archibald  Borland,  the  father  of 
William,  their  only  child. 

DAVID, 

the  fourth  son,  married  two  wives,  a  Miss  Cabe  and  Penny 
Berry.     By  Miss  Cabe  he  had  two  children,  as  follows:  — 


FAMILY    HISTORY.  45 

Gilbert,  who  married  Sarah  Borland,  and  who  was  the 
father  of  David  and  William. 

John,  who  is  unknown  to  me. 

By  Penny  Berry  his  children  were  Samuel,  Alfred,  Eliza, 
etc.,  who  all  moved  to  Tennessee. 

NANCY, 

the  eldest  daughter  of  Gilbert  Stray  horn,  married  James 
Hart,  and  had  eleven  children,  as  follows :  — 

Jane,  who  married  David  Strain,  and  their  children  were 
John,  William,  Mrs.  Samuel  C.  Kirkland,  Mrs.  James  Hart, 
Mrs.  John  Horton,  etc. 

John,  who  married  Fannie  Moore. 

Gilbert,  who  married  Nancy  Moore. 

Sarah,  who  married  Samuel  Strayhorn. 

James,  who  married  a  Miss  Belden. 

Elizabeth,  who  married  Andrew  Murray. 

Samuel,  who  married  Elizabeth  Tate. 

Miriam,  who  married  James  Brown. 

David,  who  married  Elizabeth  Petty. 

William  and  Joseph  never  married. 

MIRIAM, 

the  second  daughter,  married  John  Strain,  and  had  nine 
children,  as  follows :  — 

David,  who  married  Jane  Hart. 

William,  who  married  Nancy  Strayhorn. 

Alexander,  who  married  Mary  Burns. 

Elizabeth,  who  married  John  Elkms, 

Mary,  who  married  Bryant  Strayhorn. 

James,  who  married  Elizabeth  Gattis. 

Samuel,  who  married  a  Miss  Brewer. 

Gilbert  and  Sarah  never  married. 

MARY, 

the  third  daughter,  married  John  Cabe,  who  was  a  member 
of  the  legislature  in  1796,  by  whom  she  had  nine  children, 
all  daughters,  as  follows:  — 

Nancy,  who  married  Joseph  Latta  and  Maj.  Donne  11. 


46  HISTORY   OF    NEW    HOPE    CHURCH. 

Sarah,  who  married  John  Latta. 

Mary,  who  married  Mann  Patterson,  the  father  of  William 
N.  and  Robert. 

Kachael,  who  married  M.  McCown  and  H.  Simms. 

Katy,  who  married  Benjamin  Rodgers. 

Elizabeth,  who  married  Benjamin  Rhodes. 

Lydia,  who  married  Charles  W.  Johnston,  the  father  of  the 
present  elder  bearing  the  same  name. 

Margaret,  who  married  John  Caldwell. 

Jane,  who  married  William  T.  Shields. 

Some  of  these  families  moved  to  the  West,  and  it  is  a  little 
singular  that  each  of  the  eleven  men  whom  the  nine  daugh- 
ters married  all  owned  a  merchant  mill. 

SARAH, 

the  fourth  daughter,  married  William  Ansley,  and  moved  to 
Georgia. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  Gilbert  Strayhorn  had  a  large 
number  of  grandchildren;  at  least  sixty  are  here  recorded, 
and  most  of  them  in  turn  married,  and  had  families  bearing 
various  names,  and  who  are  largely  the  people  of  New  Hope 
congregation  to-day. 

THE     CRAIG    FAMILY. 

As  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Strayhorn,  the  number  of  William 
Craige's  children,  their  names  aod  places  of  residence  have 
already  been  stated. 

JOHN 

was  the  eldest  child,  and  married  Mary  Blackwood,  the  daugh- 
ter of  William  Blackwood,  by  whom  he  had  ten  children,  as 
follows:  — 

James,  who  married  Nellie  Turner,  of  the  Hawfields,  and 
who  was  the  father  of  John,  James,  Annie,  etc.,  of  Chapel 
Hill.  He  was  one  of  the  donors  of  the  University  site  at 
Chapel  Hill  A  story  is  told  of  his  absent-mindedness.  He 
once  rode  horse  back  to  New  Hope  church  to  preaching,  and 
when  he  reached  home  he  was  afoot.      His    wife    asked  him 


FAMILY    HISTORY.  47 

where  was  his  horse.  He  had  forgotten  it,  and  had  never 
once  thought  of  it  in  all  of  his  seven  miles  tramp.  A  negro  was 
sent  after  it  and  found  it  tied  to  a  tree  near  the  church. 

His  son  John  was  a  member  of  the  legislature  in  1812. 

His  son  James  graduated  at  Chapel  Hill  in  1816. 

James  F.  who  lives  at  the  old  homestead,  and  William  H. 
a  lawyer  in  Ark.,  are  two  of  his  grandsons,  being  sons  of  John. 

Betsy,  who  married  Alexander  Russell,  and  moved  west. 

Isabel,  who  married  Geo.  Long,  and  who  was  the  great- 
grandmother  of  the  Long  family. 

David,  who  married  Betsy  Boroughs,  and  who  was  the 
father  of  four  daughters,  who  married  William  Brown,  Mr. 
Blackwood,  Mr.  Murdock  and  John  Freeland,  the  father  of 
Johnston  and  Dr.  Oharles. 

Alexander,  who  married  Jane  Strayhorn,  and  who  was 
the  father  of  Isabel,  who  married  Caleb  Wilson;  of  John, 
who  married  Susan  White;  of  Cameron,  who  married  Harriet 
Jacobs;  of  Mary,  who  married  John  Baldwin;  of  David, 
who  married  Nancy  Strayhorn,  and  who  was  the  father  of 
Nettleton;  of  Martha,  who  married  Samuel  Kirkland;  of  Gil- 
bert, who  married  Margaret  Strayhorn,  the  mother  of  Leroy 
Craig. 

Abram,  who  married  Jane  Murdock,  and  who  was  the 
father  of  John,  of  the  Hawfields,  and  of  Andrew,  who  became 
a  Baptist  minister  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State.  Abram, 
a  son  of  John  is  at  present  an  elder  in  the  Hawfields  church, 
and  Locke  and  Braxton,  sons  of  Andrew,  one  a  lawyer  in 
Asheville  and  the  other  a  Baptist  minister. 

Mary,  who  married  Charles  Freeland,  the  father  of  Fletch- 
er, Mrs.  Katy  Faucett,  etc. 

Samuel,  Peggy  and  John  died  unmarried. 

DAVID 

was  perhaps  the  second  child,  and  married  Nellie  Turner, 
of  the  Hawfields,  by  whom  he  had  eight  children,  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

Johnston,  who  married  Martha  Blackwood,  and  moved 
west. 

AVilliam,  who  married  Mary  Blackwood  and    moved   west, 


48  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HOPE    CHURCH. 

Samuel,  who  married  Mary  Johnston,  of  the  Hawfields, 
and  moved  west. 

David  and  John  went  to  the  West. 

Isabel,  who  married  James  Johnston,  of  the  Hawfields, 
and  whose  descendants  are  still  there.  One  of  her  descen- 
dants, T.  C.  Johnston,  is  at  the  present  time  a  ruling  elder 
in  the  Hawfields  church. 

Elanor,  who  married  John  Blackwood,  was  the  mother  of 
thirteen  children,  whose  names  will  be  noticed  under  the 
Blackwood  family. 

Sarah,  who  married  Johnston  Blackwocd,  and  moved  away. 

JAMES, 

who  was  perhaps  the  third  son,  married  Rebecca  Ball,  by 
whom  he  had  eight  children,  as  follows :  — 

William,  who  married  Mary  McBryde,  at  the  place  where 
David  A.  Claytor  now  lives,  and  moved  to  South  Carolina. 
I  have  never  been  able  to  find  any  traces  of  this  family, 
though  there  were  several  children,  and  they  located  in  one 
of  the  border  counties,  perhaps  Chesterfield.  I  think  the 
name  of  one  of  his  daughters  was  Scynthia. 

Nancy,  who  married  Joseph  Mallette,  and  who  was  the 
mother  of  Mrs.  Tinnin  in  the  Hawfields,  and  of  Rebecca, 
who  married  first  Thomas  Jacobs,  the  father  of  Nancy,  who 
married  Isaac  Craig  and  Col.  William  McCauley;  and  of 
Harriet,  who  married  Cameron  Craig,  the  father  of  Sandy, 
Johnston,  William,  etc.  Rebecca  was  married  a  second  time 
to  Charles  Freeland. 

James,  who  married  Sarah  Burns,  a  daughter  of  Andrew, 
who  was  a  son  of  William.  James  Craig  was  the  father  of 
Mis.  William  Cheek,  who  had  a  large  family,  some  of  whom 
were  Calvin,  Mrs.  Murphy  Smith,  etc.  His  other  children 
all  moved  away. 

Margaret  who  married  Robert  Nichols  and  moved  to 
Arkansas. 

Isaac,  who  married  two  wives,  Betsy  Murray  and  Nancy 
Jacobs,  and  who  died  without  children. 

John  never  married,  and  died  at  the  age  of  about   twenty- 


FAMILY    HISTOKY.  49 

five.  He  was  a  great  sufferer  with  white  swelling,  and  was 
said  to  have  been  a  very  intelligent  man. 

Rebecca  never  married  and  lived  at  the  old  homestead  to 
an  advanced  age,  when  she  died  very  suddenly.  She  was  a 
good  woman,  and  was  a  mother  to  my  grandfather's  children, 
after  his  wife  died. 

David,  who  married  Isabel  Nelson,  a  daughter  of  John 
Nelson  of  the  Hawfields,  and  who  was  the  father  of  six  chil- 
dren. He  was  born  Oct.  1786,  and  died  of  cancer  in  the  eye, 
Nov.  12, 1862.  His  children  were  Jennie,  Rebecca  and  John, 
all  of  whom  died  young;  Wiley  and  Isabel,  who  never  mar- 
ried, and  lived  together  at  the  old  home  until  recently,  Oct. 
21,  1890,  when  Wiley  died,  leaving  Isabel  all  alone.  His 
other  child,  James  Newton,  was  my  father,  and  married 
Emeline  Strayhorn,  a  daughter  of  Samuel,  a  son  of  William, 
a  son  of  Gilbert,  the  patriarch.  My  father  was  the  only  one 
who  perpetuated  the  name  of  Craig  in  N.  C,  in  a  direct  line, 
through  James,  the  son  of  William.  I  am  one  of  ten  chil- 
dren, eight  of  whom  are  still  living.  My  father  was  born 
Oct.  14,  1816,  and  died  Feb.  12,  1879. 

SAMUEL, 

the  youngest  child,  married  Mary  Johnston,  of  the  Haw- 
fields, and  was  the  father  of  eight  children,  as  follows:  — 

William,  who  married  Sarah  Woods. 

Samuel,  who  married  two  wives,  Martha  Kirkland  and 
Martha  Easters.  By  the  first  wife  two  of  his  children  were 
Mary  and  Martha.  Mary  was  the  mother  of  George  S.  Free- 
land,  and  Martha  married  John  Paul  late  in  life. 

Martha,  who  married  Andrew  Burns,  and  who  was  the 
mother  of  William,  Samuel,  Margaret  and  Anderson.  The 
latter  moved  to  Texas. 

Betsy,  who  married  William  Kirkland,  the  father  o£ 
William  S.  who  was  an  elder,  and  of  John,  who  was  Ihe 
father  of  Richard,  Irvin  and  John. 

Isabel,  who  married  Joseph  Kirkland,  the  father  of  Sam- 
uel, the  elder,  John,  Joseph.  -Tames,  William,  etc. 

David  was  drowned. 


50 


HISTORY    OF    NEW    HOPE    CHURCH. 


Jane,  who  married  George  Mitchell. 
Margaret,  who  married  James  Mitchell. 

ISABEL, 

the  only  daughter,  married  David  Nelson,  of  the  Hawfields, 
by  whom  she  had  a  large  family.  Some  of  her  children 
were  as  follows:  — 

Samuel,  who  married  a  Miss  Tate. 

Lettie,  who  married  James  Tate,  and  two  of  her  daughters 
married  brothers  by  the  name  of  Allen. 

John  married  Jennie  Tate,  and  was  the  father  of  thirteen 
children.  He  was  for  many  years  an  elder  in  the  Hawfields 
church,  and  the  names  of  his  numerous  family  were  as  fol- 
lows: Isabel,  who  married  David  W.  Craig,  my  grandfather; 
Janette,  William  and  George  never  married;  David,  John, 
James,  Alfred  and  Josiah  all  moved  west;  Samuel,  who  mar- 
ried Sarah  Burnsides,  whose  sons  all  died  in  the  war;  Mary, 
who  married  John  Paul,  whose  sons  moved  west,  and  some 
of  whose  daughters,  Mrs.  Miles,  Mrs.  James  Squires,  etc., 
still  live  in  the  Hawfields;  Margaret,  who  married  John  Hart, 
and  moved  west;  Paisley,  who  married  Margaret  Smith,  whose 
son,  Samuel,  and  daughter,  Mrs.  Margaret  Thompson,  still 
live  in  the  Hawfields. 

THE     BLACKWOOD    FAMILY. 

William  Blackwood,  like  Gilbert  Stiayhorn  and  William 
Craig,  was  one  of  the  Patriarchs  of  New  Hope,  and  he  was 
the  rich  man  of  the  congregation  in  his  day.  It  is  said  his 
lands  were  four  miles  in  extent  from  east  to  west, —  from  near 
Robson's  old  mill  to  the  old  road  leading  from  Chapel  Hill 
to  Hillsboro. 

A  story  is  told  of  him  which  well  illustrates  the  sturdy 
Scotch  character  and  customs.  When  either  John  Craig  or 
Charles  Johnston  asked  him  for  his  daughter  in  marriage, 
falling  back  upon  the  customs  of  Scotland,  he  said  to  the 
young  man,  "  I  have  a  thousand  acres  of  land,  besides  other 
property  to  give  to  my  daughter,  and  have  you  an  equal 
amount  to  start  with  her  ?  "     The  young  man  had   to   answer, 


FAMILY    HISTOKY.  51 

no!  and  consent  to  the  marriage  was  refused. 

But  it  mattered  not,  mill  day  soon  came  round  and  bis  girl 
had  to  go,  but  she  did  not  return,  for  a  conspiracy  had.  been 
formed  by  the  young  couple  and  the  wedding  was  over.  The 
old  man  was  beaten  and  had  the  "  pouts  "  for  weeks,  but  per- 
haps remembering  his  own  sins,  he  sent  for  his  children  to 
come  home,  and  gave  them  his  blessing  as  well  as  the  portion 
of  lands. 

It  would  be  almost  impossible  for  me  to  enlarge  in  any 
great  measure  upon  this  family  without  repeating  much  of 
what  I  have  already  written,  And  the  same  might  be  said 
of  the  Kirkland  and  Freeland  families,  for  they  are  all  close- 
ly connected,  and  the  history  of  one  greatly  involves  the  his- 
tory of  the  others. 

As  stated  elsewhere.  William  Blackwood,  the  original  set- 
tler, had  eight  children,  and  the  name  has  been  perpetuated 
in  the  New  Hope  congregation  through  his  son. 

WILLIAM. 

who  married  Margaret  King,  by  whom  he  had  sixteen  chil- 
dren— four  sons  and  twelve  daughters.  I  have  been 
informed  that  the  daughters  married  as  follows: 

Elizabeth;  who  married  George  Allen,  of  Tennessee. 

Hannah,  who  married  Willoughby  Selph,  of  Virginia. 

Mary,  who  married  William  Craig,  son  of  David. 

Martha,  who  married  Johnston  Craig,  son  of  David. 

Jennie,  who  married  John  McCauley. 

Annie,  who  married  Jacob  Potts. 

Margaret,  who  married  William  Long,  of  Tennessee. 

Sarah,  who  married  John  Gattis,  of  Georgia. 

Nancy,  who  married  James  and  Silas  Davis. 
♦    Fannie,  who  married  Anderson  Long. 

Isabel,  and  Katy,  died  unmarried. 

The  four  sons  were  William,  James,  and  Johnston,  who 
all  moved  away,  and  John,  the  perpetuator  of  the  name  on 
the  waters  of  New  Hope. 

This  man,  John  Blackwood,  was  twice  married;  first  to 
Elanor  Craig,  the  daughter  of   David  the  son  of  William,  by 


52  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HOPE    CHURCH. 

whom  he  had  thirteen  children,  and  second  to  Mary  McCau- 
ley, by  whom  he  had  seven  childien — twenty  in  all.  His 
children  by  Elanor  Craig  were  as  follows :  Mary,  who  mar- 
ried James  Strayhorn,  the  father  of  Calvin,  Robert,  Magrgie 
and  Mrs.  Julia  Hogan;  David?  who  married  Tabitha  Minor, 
of  Granville,  and  was  the  father  of  John  M.,  Samuel  D.,  the 
elder,  Mrs.  Ward,  Mrs.  Mary  Blackwood  and  Mrs.  Julia 
Kirkland;  William,  who  was  an  elder,  married  Martha  Minor, 
of  Granville,  and  was  the  father  of  John  T.,  William,  etc.; 
Margaret  who  married  John  McCauley,  the  father  of  David, 
James,  etc,;  Isabel,  Samuel  and  Jackson  never  married;  John, 
who  married  Laura  Springs,  of  South  Carolina;  Nathaniel, 
who  married  Mary  Jones,  of  Johnston  county;  Alexander, 
who  married  Helen  Horton,  and  became  a  Baptist  minister; 
Robert  married  Susan  Stanley,  of  Surry  county;  Johnston 
married  Rebecca  Teel,  of  New  Jersey.  The  first  three  men- 
tioned above  remained  in  the  bounds  of  New  Hope,  the  others 
all  moved  away.  I  have  no  knowledge  of  John  Blackwood's 
children  by  Mary  McCauley. 

THE   KIRKLAND   FAMILY. 

This  family  has  furnished  the  church  with  three  ruling 
elders — Joseph,  in  1840;  William  S.,  in  1859,  and  Samuel,  in 
1879.  At  the  present  time  it  has  a  large  number  of  male  rep- 
resentatives, two  of  whom  are  deacons,  Joseph  and  William, 
brothers  of  the  elder.  Joseph  married  Julia  Blackwood,  a 
sister  of  Samuel,  the  elder,  and  William  married  Elizabeth 
Craig,  the  daughter  of  John,  the  son  of  Alexander,  the  son  of 
John  Craig.  And  also  her  grandmother  was  Jane  Strayhorn, 
the  daughter  of  John,  the  son  of  Gilbert  Strayhorn. 

I  am  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  history  of  the 
original  members  of  the  family  so  as  to  speak  with  certainty 
in  reference  to  them.  But  enough  has  been  said  to  show 
their  connection  with  the  founders  of  the  church,  and  thereby 
illustrating  the  truth  of  God's  promises. 

I  am  not  competent  with  my  present  fund  of  information 
to  enter  into  any  detailed  account  of  the  Freeland,  Hogan 
and  Johnston  families. 


FAMILY   HISTORY.  53 

The  Freelands  are  the  oldest  in  connection  with  the  church, 
and  were  perhaps  among  its  original  organizers,  though  the 
Hogans  came  to  North  Carolina  about  the  same  time,  and 
perhaps  in  company  with  them.  It  is  said  that  both  families 
settled  in  what  is  now  the  western  part  of  the  village  of 
Chapel  Hill  about  the  same  time  the  first  settlers  located  on 
New  Hope.  It  is  certain  that  John  Freeland  was  elder  in 
New  Hope  church  as  far  back  as  1796,  as  the  record  show. 
This  man  was  the  grandfather  of  John  A.  Freeland  of  whom 
mention  has  been  made. 

The  Johnston  family,  as  before  stated,  is  of  later  date,  and 
at  the  present  time  has  only  one  male  representative,  C.  W. 
Johnston,  an  elder,  and  a  descendant,  on  his  mother's  side,  of 
Gilbert  Stray  horn  The  present  Mr.  Johnston  mariied  a 
daughter  of  the  well  known  educator,  Samuel  W.  Hughes, 
deceased,  and  has  a  large  family  of  children,  some  of  whom 
are  members  of  the  church. 


54  HISTORY    OF    NEW    HOPE    CHURCH. 


CONCLUSION. 


In  glancing  over  what  I  have  written  I  see  how  imperfect, 
incomplete  and  unsatisfactory  my  work  has  been.  And  in 
endeavoring  to  give  some  accou  nt  of  the  church  from  her 
earliest  history  to  the  present  day  it  has  involved  the  partial 
history  of  families — and  especially  of  my  own — which  might 
seem  presumptuous;  but  I  disclaim  every  motive  save  the 
hope  that  it  might  be  of  use  to  future  generations,  enabling 
them  to  see  their  ancestry,  and  causing  them  to  remember 
God's  promises.  And  if  anything  has  been  preserved  which 
otherwise  might  have  been  lost,  and  which  may  tend  to  the 
glory  of  God,  I  am  satisfied. 

A  century  and  a  quarter  have  wrought  great  changes  in  the 
world,  since  our  ancestors  were  divinely  led  to  worship  God 
on  the  hill  of  New  Hope;  but  through  all  these  changes  their 
representatives  are  still  abiding  under  the  shadow  of  ihe  old 
vine.  Political  and  financial  convulsions,  fire,  wars  and  rev- 
olutions have  failed  to  destroy  or  annul  the  promise  of  God 
to  His  people.  At  the  same  old  homes,  on  the  same  old 
plantations  are  the  same  old  names,  and  the  people  still 
come  to  worship  God  at  the  same  old  place,  near  to  the 
graves  of  their  ancestors,  and  in  the  midst  of  sweet  associa- 
tions and  hallowed  memories.  And  why  is  all  this  ?  It  is 
because  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  to  our  fathers  and  to  us 
their  children.  Here  the  gospel  has  been  preached;  here  its 
ordinances  have  been  administered,  and  here  immortal  souls 
have  been  born  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

May  the  God  of  all  grace  continue  to  bless  the  people  of 
New  Hope;  and  may  you,  dear  reader,  and  your  children  and 
your  children's  children — may  all  of  us  and  our  posterity 
through  all  time  be  found  in  His  service  and  abide  under 
His  shadow. 

THE   END. 


Date  Due 

AUG  2  5 

acvti 

1 

OCT  2  4 

FEB  21 

i 

(2d  d  K 

OCT  15 

FEB  10 

MfC^f 

DEU  i  51 

AUG  2  0 

mjg  r  2i 

C  C  P    ^    ft 

btt     l  U 

OCT  0  8, 

i 

«           4 

i 

WM  H 

-'       ;•-             "■                  1             t 

Demco  38-297 

